Giving In is Giving Up
by hmfan24
Summary: AU Bulma and Vegeta had a child before Trunks. Their meeting changes the course of history and piques the prince's interest in Bulma early on. BV Sequel to Abducted! Revision in the works.
1. We Had a Whelp

**Warning: Sequel to _Abducted!_**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fanfiction nor do I own Dragon Ball Z. Akira Toriyama does.**

**Summary: AU: Vegeta and Bulma had a child before Trunks. See how this affects their stubborn relationship and the other warriors in this heartwarming tale of a girl who's greatest weakness was her own strength. VB**

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**Giving In is Giving Up**

**Chapter 1: We had a Whelp**

_**by hmfan24**_

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Raditz's had been annihilated by his younger brother - Kakarot. What kind of bullshit was that? Kakarot didn't even possess half of Raditz's power level according to the record Freiza had on file much less enough to kill the low-level Saiyan. This puzzle agitated Vegeta beyond a doubt. To solve it, he and Nappa plotted their next destination to be Earth. Not only that, but the planet was said to have Dragon Balls hidden within it. His deepest desire was to become immortal in order to keep his Saiyan heritage alive after his planet was destroyed at the hands of Freiza. With immortality, he'd be able to defeat the overlord sooner than later. After all, the death of Freiza was his raison d'être. If the granting orbs were indeed here, then the answer to the original puzzle wouldn't matter.

The moment his feet touched the soil of the foreign planet, he recognized the familiar anatomy of the Earthlings. They resembled tailless Saiyans so closely that it almost felt like home, yet they were so weak. There wasn't a formidable opponent for thousands of miles. They felt like a mere shell compared to the beings he'd call his own. This made Vegeta disgruntled, he nodded over to Nappa to launch off to the power source. How could Raditz not have handled himself here? He made sure to keep his guard up just in case these Earthlings had a few tricks up their sleeves. He would not allow himself to be caught off guard like Raditz had been.

"We are to go to the strongest fighter. He's most likely the one that took care of Raditz," the smaller soldier informed the bald one. His hand twitched into a ball quicker than a bear trap as his blood thirsty mouth shaped into a grin, "We best take care of him first before he gets in our way."

Vegeta could swear that the last 5 planets he destroyed had no ostensible fighters in all of their races. The last good fight he could remember had been against a race of giant, pink birds who had an aerial advantage over his Great Ape form. It was more quirky than quality, but interesting enough for an opponent nonetheless. They were nothing like the inferior and ignorantly peaceful societies they encountered on average. He took another quick glance around at the humans and sighed as what he saw was exactly what he hated about his job. Killing weak beings was like killing ants - menial and a waste of time. Contrary to Vegeta, however, Nappa was currently having a ball destroying the surrounding city. He sighed and flew up into the air.

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A young girl that was about Gohan's age, 5, flew in circles, disgruntled. Her blood boiling, her skin itching for a fight. She dressed like Gohan and Piccolo, but had an inverted color scheme of purple and blue. This was her time to prove herself as the true warrior she was born to be. For her entire life, she knew she was stronger than most, but didn't see the point of it within the peaceful society she lived in. Sure there were a few crimes being committed every so often that she'd sneak out and stop, yet it wasn't enough of a challenge to use her strength in a way that made her stronger. She halted mid-air as her long aqua-blue hair rose by the sudden spike in her ki, "Hey, guys!" she shouted. A cocky smirk grew on her face, "They're almost here." Now she'd be up against Saiyans like the one that Goku and Master Piccolo defeated. This was the fight she'd been waiting for.

Her comrade Gohan and master Piccolo nodded.

She crossed her arms as she stared intently at the approaching power source then mimicked their nod. The enemies were finally approaching, and now was her time to defend not just her city, but the entire planet. She had a beautiful, blue-haired mother at home waiting for her return, and, in her mind, a handsome scar-faced warrior that would come to her rescue at any time - if she needed rescuing. This battle was already coiling around her finger. Over the interim since Goku's death, she'd developed her natural power. Turning away from deep thought, she pointed a finger at Gohan, "Be sure not to get in my way!"

Piccolo scowled, "Your power level isn't high enough for you to go at it alone. Think before you act, Tanga*. These Saiyans are very powerful, and if you're not cautious, your life will be on the line." As a teacher, he was more concerned for Tanga than for Gohan. The girl had a tendency to over-estimate herself and irrationally jump into a battle that was out of her league, and that sort of ego was very dangerous for a child to have - dangerous for anyone without sensible inhibitions.

Gohan poked his fingers together. Although he and Tanga both grew to be the same level under Piccolo, Gohan was severely insecure about his abilities. His hands were cold with sweat despite the dry, desert atmosphere, for he was unsure exactly how strong these Saiyans would be. The thought alone made him distance himself behind his master. If it came down to his life being on the line, he was sure that Piccolo would be able to save him, or maybe even Tanga. She had saved him a handful of times when she didn't find his predicaments with the hostile wildlife "way too funny to stop". Beggars can't be choosers of course. Suddenly, he looked around then he grinned, "Hey, Krillin's here!"

"Hn!" she crossed her arms, "I think you've all forgotten that _I'm _part Saiyan - born-warrior," her tail nearly wagged as she boasted, "and now that I've realized my true power, these guys will be nothing for me!" She got to the ground, assumed her fighting stance and charged her ki wildly, "Bring. It. Onnnnnn!"

Krillin came up with a confident smile, "Hey, everybody!" Everyone felt so strong - a lot stronger than he thought they'd end up being. The kids were the biggest surprise. Piccolo and Gohan nodded a greeting while Tanga scoffed. Even as an established warrior, Krillin's pride couldn't handle the Briefs' girls' cold shoulder. He leaned into whisper to Gohan, "So how was hell with Tanga and Piccolo?"

"Well Master Piccolo was great, but Tanga..." he started, but couldn't finish the sentence. What Tanga and Gohan had experienced couldn't really be called a "friendship". As much as Gohan had hoped to make a new friend his age, Tanga was quite resistant. The Son boy was apparently too much of a cry baby to be considered a real Saiyan, and so it was almost like she wanted little to do with him.

"I can hear you, you idiots!" she yelled and pointed palm towards them. "Gohan, you especially should know I wouldn't hesitate."

They both stood at attention, "Y-Yes!"

Piccolo sighed, he'd done that a lot over the past year. Tanga had talked her power up to be 10 times that of Gohan's, and Gohan foolishly believed her. They were both very talented for their ages, however. Goku had been no where near as powerful as they were when he was their age, but hopefully he had managed to surpass them now. Tanga's ego would often be her worst enemy when she did succumb to injuries as he had seen before. She had spent days being physically unable to fight just by foolishly pushing herself past her limit and underestimating her opponents.

Soon, everyone was standing at attention in their respective stances as the looming threat rose above the horizon. The wind created by its sheer power blew against the team. This was them. Hopefully, they'd be able to hold their own at least until Goku arrived.

Vegeta and Nappa landed and studied their opponents in silence. His eyes immediately zoned in on the two children with tails. Saiyans or humans or what? He wasn't sure. He turned on his scouter and eyed his biggest threat- the Namek who stood the tallest and the strongest above the four. Then he glanced at the mid-sized human and smirked at him. Krillin stifled his whimper.

"Tell us where the Dragon Balls are, or we'll use force," the man with tall, spiky hair, turned off his scouter and crossed his arms. He wouldn't have to be too patient as he could easily get information out of the quartet that would try to oppose him.

The Namekian stood his ground, "Leave this planet now-"

"Or we'll use force!" the young girl flew up to match the height of the aliens. She gulped, already feeling their power take a toll on her confidence, but that wouldn't put a stop to her bravado.

"Quiet, Tanga!" Piccolo pushed her head down.

The bald Saiyan sighed. "Come on, Raditz," Nappa lectured the fallen soldier, "you could've done better than this."

Vegeta quirked an eyebrow towards his comrade, "What's that?"

"Check out these power levels! I can't believe Raditz got beat by these weaklings," he scoffed.

"They've learned to hide their power. The scouters are useless. Use the Saibamen to determine what they can do, then after that, take care of them," Vegeta commanded, almost sounding out of breath before he returned his focus to the children. The blue haired girl looked very familiar - too familiar. The black eyes nearly resembled his own and that tail... His heart rate increased as did the familiarity. The epiphany was on the tip of his tongue, so he isolated himself on a rock to remember. Humans didn't have tails. This girl was a Saiyan that he almost recognized.

The Saibamen were suddenly sprouting from the ground and lunged towards the four.

Tanga haughtily held her ground, taking out 2 by herself while Krillin, Gohan and Piccolo each killed one leaving one left. She yelled back at her team, "I could've taken them all on by myself! Stop getting in my way, you fools! If power is what the old man wants to see, then he shall see it in me." She pointed at Nappa, "Bring it on!" she spouted her catch phrase.

Vegeta zoned out as he watched the young girl effortlessly take on the Saibamen.

_Vegeta neared his bed and braced himself above the blue-haired maiden his crew had abducted for him. Finally he had met someone who was able to meet his demands for an attractive female mate. She looked up at him, irritated at most, yet unable to resist the prince. He grinned, "How dare you mock me." He would be able to release a tension that had been built up inside of him for ages. However, he had realized, there was something more profound about the presence of this woman. Somehow it had managed to affect his chest rather than his groin. The ritual would be to exterminate her in order to prevent the spread of Saiyan blood. The fear of that certain feeling in his chest would have led him to take care of it, but it was same feeling that had been preventing him from doing much of anything._

_He shut his eyes, for there was much more than lust in his eyes and he had to hide it. Then his words betrayed him as he quivered, "I won't let them do anything to you."_

_She had to be a fool believe him, but the way he said it - with such predilection and determination - that alone was enough to have her abandon all restraints she had about him for that moment. What would happen would happen regardless of her consent, so the consequence of giving in was at minimum._

By the time Vegeta came back to reality, there were several new corpses scattered including the Namek who freshly lied before the mourning children. The mid-sized man was physically incapacitated, but alive. Craters were everywhere. The air was silent for the time being as the prince slowly regained his conscious eyesight to take in the morbid scenery. The two kids were flaming with power - a lot more than they had before.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU, YOU ASSHOLE!" she shouted. Tears were streaming down her face, "You killed my Yamcha and my Master! Why?" she cried. Death was all around her after she worked so hard for so long to prevent it. She shook her head and put the backs of her hands to her forehead, "Gohan, stand back! I shall finish him." She built up a yellow beam in her palms, "You will die!" Tanga had never seen anyone get murdered before. The scene alone was too much to bear. She made the mistake of underestimating her opponent that she was warned about. There was no way she'd let Nappa get away with killing all these people.

Nappa glanced over with a smirk at Vegeta then began to build up his beam. He could handle them both in one shot.

Vegeta's eyes shot open. He didn't want him to handle them! That girl was his daughter. She had to be - she looked just like the woman he had slept with several years from that day. Instinctively and without a second thought, Vegeta fired a ki blast strong enough to kill Nappa towards him. He died on the spot. The blue-haired beauty had bore him a child he'd never seen before. The two kids looked at him, dumbfounded. The Saiyan slowly approached them, his eyelids sinking until he passed out on the ground.

Tanga looked at Gohan and Gohan looked at Tanga. The enemy was killed by the bigger enemy who was now unconscious without a scratch on him. How weird. "Tanga," said Gohan, flailing his arms with relief and excitement and confusion simultaneously emitting from his face, "What do we do now?"

Krillin, very much relieved at the current state of the Prince, "Woah, did that really happen? I thought we'd be done for!" he said, equally as excited as Gohan. He still couldn't move after getting handed such a beating by the guy Vegeta took out in one hit, so there was no doubt that Vegeta would finish them all off just as quickly.

"Of course it happened! Now. We kill him," she declared; her knees shook and so did her voice. Killing someone was a lot easier to say than it was to do. "Charge up, guys! If we all fire at him at once, he's sure to die," she exclaimed and began to charge her ki.

"No!" Goku testified, appearing suddenly above them upon his Nimbus.

"Daddy!" cried Gohan with delight.

Goku slowly spiraled down to the ground then handed everyone a senzu bean, "So these are the Saiyans. They killed everyone, didn't they?" He stared off at the several corpses that lied within the scenery. It was devastatingly heart-wrenching to see his friends down as they had been. These Saiyans - the race that he belonged to - were cold-blooded murderers. Still, he himself wasn't going to avenge their deaths with murder. If all possible, he'd try his best to work something out without violence. This was his kind-hearted nature.

Gohan had tears of joy welling up in his eyes as he felt truly safe for the first time in a year, "But now that you're here, we'll be fine. Nappa nearly killed us, but this Vegeta guy saved us!" His heart was at ease when his father was near. Quite possibly, if the world didn't have galactic threats looming over them, he'd opt out of fighting completely - not that he enjoyed studying.

Tanga scoffed, "Gohan, he was probably gonna kill us right before he passed out. He's no hero." She turned to Goku and put her hand on her hip, "Why can't we kill him?" she pouted. "Don't tell me you'd give him a senzu bean, he's not even hurt." She point an accusing finger at the body. Tanga, on the other hand, would probably search the galaxy for a fight if it brought excitement...

Krillin stood up, revived, and judged the situation, "Well, I'm pretty sure he passed out from some sort of blackout. Especially since he killed his buddy over there and fainted after staring at Tanga for the last hour. He was looking for the Dragon Balls but now that Piccolo's..."

Gohan stared over at Piccolo's dead body until his father patted his head for assurance. Goku frowned, "But we shouldn't kill him. He's the last Saiyan alive. Maybe he'll leave now that the Dragon Balls are gone."

"Yeah right, let's just wait around and see if he wants to live peacefully on earth when he wakes up. Then maybe he'll fall in love and start a family and protect it right beside us," Tanga sarcastically gushed. Already, in her mind, she had mastered deadpan humor as a way to cope with the foolish people around her. They weren't hot-blooded enough when they needed to be with the exception of the late Piccolo. That was someone worth looking up to. She then flew up into the air, "I'm leaving." With that she flew off.

Goku stared at the unconscious Saiyan body, "Maybe we _should _wait until he wakes up." He threw Vegeta's body over his shoulder. "An isolated place should do the trick, right? Then we wait and if he wants to fight, I'll fight him."

His young son looked up to the area of the sky where Tanga had left. Even he could tell she was on the verge of tears. She must have still had some crying to do. Gohan empathized with her, but that still didn't mean he was ready to follow her.

Tanga was upset - furious - but at the same time frustrated that she wasn't able to protect the ones she cared about. As she flew, she became a natural disaster for the surrounding areas. But that's how she vented. When her beloved Yamcha had died right in front of her like that, she felt worthless. Then she watched Tien and Master Piccolo fall and realized that maybe her opponents were unbeatable. "I need to get stronger!" she let her ki surge with rage until she felt light-headed. Goku said they weren't allowed to kill the bastard? How ridiculous! She had to avenge her friends.

Tanga had orbited the earth until she realized a fight going on between Goku and Vegeta. Upon spotting them, she lowered her ki and herself to the ground. Gohan was nude and tailless on the ground near his father, damaged from the battle. The Saiyan was tailless, too, and also seemed worn by the battle. They must've put up a good fight! But from the looks of it, Vegeta looked like he had the upper hand as he was the only one who had the ability to stand. His foot was standing on Goku's face, pressing further down into his jaw.

"Where is the blue-haired girl, Kakarot? Tell me or I'll smash this planet," Vegeta bluffed. That would defeat the purpose if he ended up destroying the planet where his daughter and former lover lived on. But he was desperate to solve this new-found puzzle.

Goku, on the other hand, wasn't sure which blue-haired girl Vegeta was referring to, but either way, he was determined to protect her, "I don't know!" he said.

He was very weak as Tanga could see, and she couldn't watch even Goku fail. Of all her heroes that she'd seen fall today, she couldn't let Goku die again. Although she believed in him, she didn't want to chance his weakened state against the ruthless alien. If she was who the stranger was talking about, she'd stop him then and there. Slowly, she stepped out of hiding and yelled, "I'm right here! Let him go!"

"Tanga!" yelled Goku. He felt her hidden ki as she landed, but couldn't have predicted she'd give herself up like that. As much as he wished, there was nothing he could do about it. His mobility was limited and his strength was depleting rapidly. Even reaching out to her took all the energy he had left after his fierce battle with the Saiyan he initially spared.

Vegeta looked up, kicking Goku to the side and marched up to her with his eyes full of energy this time. He gripped her by the collar and held her up, "It seems like I found her," he said, turning back to Goku, "Fool, you should have killed me when you had the chance. What kind of Saiyan are you?"

Tanga felt fear, but retained the expression of a stoic warrior. She did not resist as the alien flew into the air with her. She anticipated being lunged towards the ground at any moment. There was a certainty that she'd die at his hands. Although as they made their way to isolation, she eventually let her guard down enough to fall asleep.

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_*Tangas are undergarments similar to the bottom worn by ChiChi in Dragon Ball. It also apparently means thong in some other languages...but disregard that._

**hmfan24: That's probably not what you expected for a sequel to _Abducted!_. But I plan to carry this out throughout the in-canon plot which will be fun since this is still a BV fic.  
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	2. Princess

**Warning: Tanga, I am your father.**

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**Giving In is Giving Up**

**Chapter 2: Princess**

**_by hmfan24_****  
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"Kill me," shouted the prince at the young girl as a taunt rather than a plea. She had been fighting against him for hours on a deserted planet light years away from her home. The planet was dark and stormy all the time and she was afraid of storms. The ground was red and the clouds were black with flashes of white lightning that were strong enough to cause fires and earthquakes on the crimson soil. No place was safe. This terrain was a thousand times worse than the wasteland Master Piccolo had left her at.

The command was but a mere derision to her dignity as even with his guard down, she hadn't even managed to land a scratch on him. Tears flew from her eyes and she collapsed from lack of energy and will. What was she doing? She was alone and scared and had no face to even look at but the man that could kill her at any moment. This situation was torture compared to what she had originally expected. It never occurred to her that the alien would kidnap her and take her to another planet. All that training didn't help at all. She was powerless.

Why was he so convinced that this girl was his daughter anyway? Perhaps it had been desperation to find someone related to him through blood, or the longing he had for her mother. This situation certainly wouldn't bring them together in a positive sense, but he excused that urge from his mind countless of times. He literally had to brainwash himself to get rid of the withdrawal symptoms after their week long 'sex-capade' on Frieza's ship.

Once Freiza became conscious of her existence, he'd see to her extermination. Vegeta could not allow that. The child was his property, and no one would simply take anything that belonged to him - not even Freiza. If he were able to harness the child's capabilities for his own, he'd be more powerful than he was when he was with Nappa. Of course she was resistant now, but she'd surely give in later on down the road.

Tanga yelled, taking his laughter as an insult, "I want to go home! Let me go home!" She fired another Masenko towards him. She had gone days without much food or water before, but with this environment, she was steadily draining.

"Tell me, Tanga, have you ever wanted to be a _princess_?" he inquired mockingly, but was semi-curious about her true feelings towards the title. She was one - an illegitimate one - however a princess nonetheless as far as he was concerned.

She looked at him like the word "princess" was foreign, "I'm a Saiyan and Saiyans aren't princesses. They're warriors!" She clenched her fist and smirked.

He smirked back, feeling a jolt from realizing the resemblance to himself at that age. How nostalgic. The only reason he was fond of his title was because it stood his overwhelming power over the entire planet. He was the prodigy of the millennium and anticipated Super Saiyan. And if trained right, this hybrid might just be able to reach his level one day, "You are right and wrong at the same time. I am the prince of the warrior race known as the Saiyans."

She looked at him skeptically. Tanga didn't really think that Vegeta would be the type to lie to her since lying was for people who had no control, yet here he was claiming to be the prince. That couldn't be it. "No...why would warriors need a prince?" she asked the "clearly" stupid man.

He narrowed his eyes, "So they can have a leader."

"Liar!"

His eyebrow twitched, "What?" Of course he wasn't lying.

Just then, she gasped, tears started streaming down her face as she shot a beam strong enough to destroy the nearby mountain and screamed in anger. It exploded and crumbled at an instant. She then charged off, leaving Vegeta confused until she orbited the small planet back around to him, shooting dozens of ki blasts towards him, "NO NO NO NO NO!"

"What!" he was more than agitated now. Vegeta landed on the ground and watched her tantrum in awe. Her power had doubled with whatever emotions had risen within her.

"Mom said my dad was a prince. Mom's not a Saiyan but I am and Gohan said that the only way I can be one is that my dad has to be a Saiyan which means my dad is a prince and a Saiyan and..." She paused and destroyed another mountain. "Either she's lying or you're lying! Which one is it?"

He smirked, "I'm not lying and she's not lying. I am Vegeta - Prince of all Saiyans." So that's what it was. How impressive for the 5 year old to put together such logic while grown men like Kakarot probably wouldn't figure it out for years. "You're very smart, Princess."

Tanga's eyes were now bloodshot. She was out of power, and collapsed on the rough, sandy surface of the planet, "Leave me here to die."

What a melodramatic little girl. So what? Her father's evil. He could be dead like his own father was although that's probably what she had wanted. Weren't most girls supposed to celebrate the title of Princess? Vegeta had had suitors since he was a baby with girls, literally killing to be a princess. And here she was born into the title. He was planning on using the announcement to coax her into joining him, yet the plan had completely backfired. He stomped over and picked her up by the collar again, throwing her into one of the space pods before setting the coordinates and getting into his own pod.

Maybe parenthood wasn't for him. He then flashed back to the readings on his scouter as she soared through the stormy skies of the deserted planet without fear and grinned to himself. Then again, maybe it would work out for him in long run. To harness that power would be interesting indeed.

His smug smile didn't last long until he realized how long it's been since they had had water and food. The pods were low on supply and they were far away from headquarters. He turned on the intercom, "Tanga! When was the last time you've eaten or had water?" Of course he got no answer, but he couldn't have the girl dying from dehydration, "Answer me!" he demanded her hasty response.

"I didn't eat before the fight on Earth, but the spaceship gave me some water today," she said in between sniffs, "I'm fine. Leave me alone. It's not like you care anyway."

Her pod had water solution? Maybe it was just his own that was low on supplies. He hadn't realized his weakened state until now as he dozed off into a light unconsciousness on their way to their destination. Where they were going should have water.

* * *

Tanga was an angry child. She spent most of her life resenting someone or something - her self was no exception. Peering over at her new found father, she held hatred and disgust in her throat. This man wasn't cool at all. Sure, he was probably the strongest guy in the universe being a Saiyan and all, but he was still a jerk. As he leaned over the riverbank to soak up water, she felt a strong urge to push him into it. "Why are we here?" she asked, looking around at a planet that seemed a whole lot more peaceful than the previous. The only downfall was that every inch of ground and sky was pink, and the ground felt like gelatin... After getting no reply, she walked over to him. "Where _are_ we?" she repeated.

The prince tried to act like he couldn't hear her, but replied after she repeated herself, "I'm not sure," he said, "But this is part of your test. A Saiyan must know how to react in unknown territory," Then promptly returned to drinking the stream.

Not another test. She'd been tested for a whole year. "You know, Vegeta," she began and watched him cringe at her addressing him so casually. She smirked. Most adults didn't appreciate being called by their first name, she noted, and it'd be a cold day in HFIL before she ever called him "father". Gohan had a habit of calling adults "Mister" and "Miss", but why waste the breath for the extra word? She sat down, dipping her feet upstream from him. She she became quite entertained from watching the water slowly change to a dark shade of pink. He sat up, wiping his mouth. "I was wondering: what would you want with a weakling like me?" she went on, satisfied by her taste of control.

That imp purposely interrupted his drinking session. "Don't **do** that!" he commanded. She smirked. He continued, frustrated, "I have my reasons."

She stroked her tail, "Why can't you tell me? You're probably never gonna let me go home again," she said, gesticulating towards the sky. Her eyes watered a bit, but she wiped them before he could see even the faintest glimmer of tears.

"You're a Saiyan. All the others are dead. You're going to help me defeat their killer," he rinsed his face and sat back. He studied the tail that she held in her hands. Then he found himself rubbing the area where his tail once was for the tenth time that day. That short, chubby man came out of nowhere with his sword and chopped it right off. If he mourned anything, it was his tail rather than his former comrade. Letting out a sigh, he got up and looked around. Lifeforms were approaching.

The girl stood up as well and faced the direction of the mob that was charging towards them. "W-What are these things?" Tanga asked, seeing the faceless blobs of poisonous, purple enemies steadily approach them. She got into a fighting stance. Her father stood silent with his arms crossed as he fiddled with the device on his eye. "Tell me!" she shrieked, pointing up at him, "You brought me here. What are these things?"

Vegeta floated into the air without saying a word and watched from above. "You're a threat to them," he informed her, "consider this the first level of your test."

A threat? The familiarity of that address made something in her cringe, yet the situation itself had never happened to her before. She felt fear. It wasn't so much the quality of their combined strength as it was the number. Soon, that wasn't much to worry about as they all began lumping together and growing in size to form one giant blob of black-blue. The smell was intolerable and the fumes smelled deadly. This felt like a scene from a surreal nightmare rather than the reality that looked her dead in the eye. She looked up at Vegeta then back to the mob several times before regaining the ability to form words with her mouth, "Get back!" she told the former mob of blobs.

"Oh, you think _that'll_ work? It's either fight or flight, princess, and I doubt you'll have a chance to escape these retched beings!" he yelled down to the helpless looking whelp that was his spawn. If she had any ounce of his blood in her, he'd be able to make a cold-blooded kill with hot sweat of the thrill. Or so he thought. He watched her back up, nearly falling back into the river before she finally decided to prepare some sort of beam from her palms. Finally! He peered further into the scene like a sport's spectator observing the true climax of a game.

Though looking deeper into her eyes from the angle he was, he did begin to see himself in her. Although what he saw wasn't the choleric killer he'd become and had been seeking in her, yet the weak-minded child bleeding innocence from her eyes that he had before - a self-portrait he tried so hard to suppress. This was quite an unsettling picture as he had forgotten that feeling of helplessness from being pit against an enemy who otherwise he wouldn't bother. All for a test of strength yet a destruction of the soul - his soul - which was sparking only to ignite self-hatred of what he once was. He had changed of course. For the better. But seeing him spawn something in the girl that would turn out to kill whatever innocence was behind her eyes made something in his stomach feel ridden with disease. "Kill it," he wanted to shout, but couldn't over the echoing of the command he once received from one of Frieza's men.

Now the girl was in imminent danger. She would be badly poisoned within meters of the threat if she didn't act at that moment. The threat was engulfing the sky like a tsunami, darkening the ground she stood on and shaking it with its roar. Then she remembered the hot beam that was charging in her hands. Yet before she could fire it, Vegeta fired a small ki blast that was strong enough to disintegrate the monster. She let go of the ball of energy she was charging and let it burn out for miles past the horizon. Looking up to her 'savior', she frowned, "Hey...what'd you do that for?" she said weakly.

"You **idiot**!" he said, landing with a large thud on the ground below him. "That thing could've poisoned you if you didn't kill it at that exact moment. Don't hesitate and if you ever do, at least think about your plan!" That was his excuse for protecting the girl. He shuddered. Never had he had to protect someone in his life.

She crossed her arms. "Sorrrr-ry," she retorted sarcastically, "I guess I've already gotten so used to _your_ disgusting smell that I didn't even notice the difference."

Wise crack, but not wise at all if it was directed at him. Still, he snorted with a smirk. "That was fear in your eyes," he noted with a notion of taunt on his tongue.

"N-No," she denied, "When? I don't think that thing had a lot of power. Even when it started combining like that." She shuddered. Fear wasn't even in her vernacular. Though the moment itself was thrilling.

"Hm..." he said while examining her face by leaning forward to be on eye-level with her, "have you even killed an intelligent life form before on that dreadful planet?" He said this with a smirk, being sure of the answer.

The girl lowered her head to avert her gaze to the ground. She didn't want to answer the question even if it was out of spite to prove him wrong of his assumptions. Gulping down her pride, she nodded, but did her best to block the incident from her mind.

Vegeta then tripped on whatever lecture he intended on giving. The Earth was a peaceful planet wasn't it? And this girl was not malevolent. She may have had a temper, but he didn't sense much ill intentions from her. "Who?" he asked, "Who made you do it?" Saiyans killed by nature, but if that were the case for his offspring, the blob would've died at her own hands. Not to mention the Earth would've been vacant by the time he arrived.

"I did."

His eyes widened a bit before narrowing in suspicion. "What? So you're telling me that you, an Earthling, had the nerve to kill someone."

"It was because I lose control when I'm _provoked_," she said, staring off blankly into the purple mist that was being pushed by the wind. Those words must have been someone else's. "Mom does, too, but it's different for me because my anger triggers my ki energy to create a force field that destroys almost everything. I don't belong on that planet anyway, so maybe it's a good thing you took me away."

Something in the pit of the man's stomach sank. Why let the tailless monkeys treat her like a monster when she could simply destroy them all? "If they provoke you then you have the right to seek vengeance," he stated although when he was young, that anger was encouraged. That anger was what made him a true Saiyan.

"No!" she yelled as she kicked up the pink dirt to reveal magenta mud, "I'm not evil like you! I like humans...they just don't like me, and so it's not their fault," she stopped to sob and turned to hide her face from the one man she knew without a doubt would judge her for every tear she leaked. Things like emotions didn't fare well with her. Anger was so much easier to express as she usually used it to hide behind. She felt his foot against her back then force her into the river she was standing over.

There was no resistance. "Weakling! If you don't want your anger to control you then don't let it! Only you have the power to control what angers you. If it's those weak beings that affect how you act, then that makes you weak, doesn't it?" He lifted her up by the tail after getting no response.

"No...I'm strong," she breathed.

He smirked. If he heard what he thought he heard, then that meant there _was_ some of him in her. "What was that?"

"Don't call me weak, you idiot!" she said, spitting water on his collar. "I can't be weak! I'm a Saiyan!"

Too much of him. He let her go. So much of him that he felt like someone other than himself. He felt like Frieza. "Hm," he walked away, shaking the feeling from himself. Those exact words came out of his mouth at some point in his life. He was sure of it. But what he said this time to the girl, wasn't meant to control her like Frieza had. They were meant to invigorate her with power. But why? Didn't he want to control her? That was the point of this whole exhibition. This was a certainly a conflict. While he wanted to bring out the uninhibited power that was lying dormant inside her beneath her foolish beliefs in controlling her anger, he kept seeing the frail yet hard-headed boy he once was that was driven by his pride in any direction that presented itself as a challenge - until he hit a more powerful wall. He was this girl's powerful wall, but in the end he'd only make her stronger.

Tanga jumped, pushing her father to the side, "Get down!" The beam that would've shot him was deflected by a swift swipe of her arm. "You idiot," she shouted. Her steaming arm dropped limp to her side, "I can't believe you didn't see that coming!"

How _heroic_.

He got up to dust himself off. There he went, being out of character and not paying attention to his surroundings. He grinned at the swarm of giant purple ogres that surrounded them. Despite their size, their power levels gave them the appearance of ants. The beam the girl deflected wouldn't have even scratched him. "Do you consciously note every fly that comes your way?" he asked.

"No..." she said as she rubbed her sore arm, "Do you want me to kill these guys, too? Why can't we just leave?"

"This is part of your training!"

"Why should I train with you!" she shouted until she noticed a large boulder headed their way. She blasted it, aiming out the corner of her eye. The monsters stopped in their tracks. "This is boring," she continued, "they can't even put up a fair fight. How am I supposed to become stronger if you keep giving me these weak enemies?"

Vegeta couldn't help but smile at her thirst for a true challenge although there was no telling what exactly they'd encounter on Namek. One step out of time is how he'd have to take it if he planned on keeping his future minion. "With every enemy you defeat, you gain the experience to defeat stronger enemies. Now, hurry it up. Although they are weak, their number is enough to kill you if you don't stay quick on your feet."

She turned to them and built up a ball of light in the palms of her hands once more. Only this time, shooting a small one. The ogre vaporized into thin air. She shot another one then another one until killing them felt like flies. It seemed she had an endless reserve of ki that emitted bursts one after another. Then, suddenly, from underground, two giant hands came up and grabbed her. Where did this one come from? It had her in the palm of his hands, crushing her and her ability to form blasts. This one was more powerful than all of the monsters combined. This one was even more powerful than she was. Where she was, was dark and painful and she wasn't able to make a sound until through the cracks of its fingers, she saw a bright light.

* * *

**hmfan24: Promise some BV romance for next chapter which might be posted by the weekend. Sorry for updating Abducted!, I decided to delete the epilogue I posted. I figure I'd update the sequel to make up for the inconvenience. This story is doing surprisingly well! Usually OCs don't do that well. **

**Thank you for reading and reviewing. Your suggestions are appreciated.**


	3. Hazy Memories

**Warning: BV S_exy_ Themes _-_ but it doesn't surpass T! Nothing you wouldn't see in a PG-13 movie.**

**Also: Long Chapter.  
**

* * *

**Giving Up is Giving In**

**Chapter 3: Hazy Memories  
**

_**by hmfan24**_

* * *

So that was her true power. The Great Ape form of the small girl demolished the swarm of purple beasts faster than he formed the artificial moon in the sky. Sure it was barbaric. Sure it was reckless. Sure it probably didn't even realize what it was doing, but its power was real. The scenario reminded him of how he needed to get stronger than he originally planned to defeat Frieza. But who needs strength when you have immortality? The Dragon Balls on Namek would be their next destination. Surely they'd be heavily guarded, however. One month's training should suffice.

The night on the pink planet came soon. Vegeta preferred to sleep in his pod when he actually did sleep, but the pod was in need of maintenance. They were stranded and he was out of mental energy after dealing with the young brat for the last 12 hours. Although, he found it entertaining that she was able to find such a suitable area for campgrounds in an enclosed area, and gathered enough food within 10 minutes flat. What kind of survival training did a trash planet like Earth provide for their young?

She had replaced her original gi and was now dressed in a space suit identical to her abductor. This spandex suit was itchy and displeased her quite a bit. The way it stuck to her skin made her sweat and hindered even the slightest movements. None the less, gathering food and firewood and finding a place for the jerk to sleep was no problem for her craftiness in forests similar to the terrain she stood at. The ground itself was pretty soft and cushioned - free of bugs, she delightfully noted, but the air was cold and dry with frequent winds, so she found a cave to at least shield them from the harsh gales. All that work only for the beast of a man to eat way more than half the food and go right to sleep without saying a word to her. She snorted. Piccolo was a better father than him and he wasn't even human or Saiyan! Enough was enough; she stomped over to his unconscious body and kicked dirt into his face. "Vegeta! Wake up!"

He had no choice but to wake up immediately. What he expected was a threat of astronomical proportions, yet all he saw was the girl standing across from him with her arms crossed. "What could you possibly want, you little brat? Couldn't you see I was resting?"

"No," she stated as if it were fact. "I did all this work and it was no sweat and all, but I want my reward now," she complained.

"Reward?" he asked, sitting up to wipe the dirt off his face. He let out a short, haughty laugh, "Hah, yeah, reward. Right. Consider your life your reward." Surely this girl didn't expect to get anything out of him. Hadn't he established his character enough? He could've done all that she did today faster and better.

The night sky looked so big to her. Even in the wastelands she lived in for a year, had never seen it before so clearly. Nearly every star was visible and there were millions of them. No moon though. No Earth either. No one she knew. But she had to wonder. Wondering was part of growing up. "The Saiyans are gone. Master Piccolo killed one. You killed one. But who killed the rest? I thought they were supposed to be strong! Now it's only you, me, Gohan and Goku," she held up four fingers, "And for a reeeeeally long time, I wanted to meet one just to see if I was as strong as them, but now they're all gone."

So she was curious about her heritage. He grabbed a peach-looking fruit from the campfire side and took a bite from it. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to answer the blunt question. He had known for a while from the rumors that it was Frieza who wiped out the planet's existence. The asteroid story was bullshit. Even if it was going at lightning fast speed, the Saiyans would've been able to stop it. "Frieza. I don't suppose you know him, seeing as though your home planet is completely ignorant of foreign races," he said as he got up to sit on the rock across from her. "He killed them all with one finger - terminated the entire planet."

"No way!" she exclaimed, anger bursting from her frame, "I don't believe that! How could anyone wipe out the most powerful race in the universe with just one finger?"

Vegeta sat back. How amusing. This girl had only come into contact with but a handful of Saiyans and already she was bursting with pride for her race - half of her race, in fact. He tried his best to stifle his smirk which almost difficult with the subject at hand. "I was your age when it happened."

Tanga looked up to the sky again. "Do you miss them?"

"I barely remember them so no. I'll forever be part of the race, however," he said before drifting further into a muse of his own thoughts and past. The last moment he remembered on the planet was when his father was talking about him. Not to him. There wasn't even the slightest eye contact before he was taken away. His mother was on a mission, soon to return, but in no hurry to see him away. Detachment was normal for the Royal Family's personality though. So as he remembered the neglected feelings he had pouring from his eyes as a child, he realized all the longing he should still have from that past moment. Of course, it was his frequent flashbacks and nightmares that ironically jerked him back into the reality of those emotions. There were often nights where he'd wake up and realize just how real the pictures that flashed through the dreams were.

"Were they evil like you are?" she asked. Her eyes were round and full of curiosity.

"What was that?" Vegeta spat, literally spitting out the contents of his mouth.

The young girl sat back, contemplating the 'deep' conversation and trying her best to formulate her thoughts so that he understood. This was hard for a child with her level of social skills to do. She continued, speaking even clearer than before, "Were they evil like you and Nappa? Or were they stupid but good like Goku* and Gohan? I don't know which is better..."

"The Saiyans were nothing like that disgraceful Kakarot! Nor were they evil," he stated. Evil truly had different meanings from person to person and planet to planet for that matter. For instance, murder was scarcely punishable by law although if related to the victim, murder was punishable by death. Of course, Vegeta was too young to really live under the law, being a toddler and all, but taboos and societal norms of his race surely influenced his moral code quite a bit. Family and lineage had much pride within it, but emotional detachment was just as common.

His daughter shook her head, "No, evil guys are the ones that take what isn't theirs and do bad things to other people. Like robbers and kidnappers and murderers! And you're all of those! You're **_evil_**. And if you think that's not evil, then something's wrong with you. I'm not gonna be anything like you when I grow up!" she yelled, slipping back into a bratty state of mind although it truly was sickening to think of herself turning into someone like him.

Vegeta didn't really care that he was being accused of evil intentions. "I don't care how you turn out to be," he replied. To him, intentions needed to be self-serving in order to survive in such a Darwinist world. Being soft had always been the highest offense of all. If left unattended, that softness would lead to death as he had seen many times before. That was why murder could sometimes be seen as a favor rather than a crime - putting someone out of their miserable weakness. This girl wouldn't understand anything like what he knew to be so of the reckless galaxy he roamed. However, maybe the topic at hand was a lot more sensitive than he once thought, "You could turn out to be like that insane woman you call your mother for all I care!" he yelled, unconscious of how harsh his tone became.

Tanga stopped to think for a moment. Be like her mother? "I don't want to be like her either," she stopped still to look at her father with skeptical narrow eyes, "How do you know she's crazy? Did you meet her?"

How the hell did this girl think she entered this life? "Yes, we have met, in fact. Do you mean to tell me that you have never heard her utter my name before?"

"No."

His eye twitched. "What?"

"She never talked about my dad that much. Um..." she started but couldn't finish her point. If they really did meet, and Vegeta really did have a baby with her then that had to mean something. "Are you in love with her?"

"What exactly do you mean by that?" he shouted. God. No, this wasn't happening again. Never had he heard that question verbalized. Yet the words were so plain and simple. "Just because I mated with her does not constitute for any weak, foolish emotions like 'love' or even infatuation," he added. Now he felt nauseous and angrier and he knew the specific fruit he just consumed had no adverse effects. "That would imply that I am soft and therefore I will be killed for that weakness." What was he saying anyway? He was planning on becoming a renegade regardless of how he was now seen by his former superiors. Their threat was impending despite the harsh reality that she thought fondly of the bluehead. "Bulma-...that **woman **has bore me a whelp and..."

"A whelp?"

"_Child,_" he strained. That specific term was seldom used to refer to Saiyan offspring.

"Is she pretty?" she asked. From looking at his face, she had already been able to tell the sudden shift of subject matter made him flustered - whether the sense was unconscious or not, she felt the need to provoke more from him. Now, with the abrupt question she pulled from the blue, his face was conspicuously red. She had learned once that if a person thought another person was pretty that that meant they probably loved the person. Or at least liked them.

The woman he wished to wipe from his memory gained shape and form in his recollection. While before her name only held an idea behind it, the idea began to morph into an actual person. That person once brought him immense pleasure within the week they spent together. "No," he lied, remembering to speak before drifting back into his drug-laced reflections. His grip on the memory was loose yet enough to have a bearing on his consciousness.

Tanga leaned forward. Watching the man hypnotize himself was very, very entertaining. "A lot of guys think she is," she added. Maybe he was different since he was evil, but a lot of guys thought her mom was pretty. She was confident in her mother's looks. "Is it because she doesn't have a tail?"

"No," he said. What was with people and thinking he had a tail fetish?

"Then why?"

"She's insane."

"So that's why? You think she's ugly because she's crazy?"

"...yes," he stammered with hesitation. Why did he hesitate? "Yes," he stated more definitively.

"You're lying!"

"Don't talk to me like that," he commanded, "Go to sleep."

"I'll sleep in the pod."

"The pod's broken."

"Auggggggh!" she stormed outside the cave.

"Where the hell are you going?"

She looked back with a smirk when she heard his voice. "I'll be back when you're ready to leave," with that she charged off.

"Huh," he said, cursing himself with his thoughts. That dreadful strand of thought drifted his mindset into unfamiliar territory that kept him from falling asleep. It was odd that he could even remember her name. Bulma. With each time he repeated her name, the pleasure he felt increased. "There better be a reward for babysitting the brat," he spat suddenly. The memory of the way that woman looked beneath him with her tousled hair and hooded eyes was enough to give him a quick burst of arousal.

Vegeta woke up the next day alone and began working on the pod immediately. By the time noon reached the sky, the girl had still not come back. Although there was no need to worry, he could still feel her ki energy roam the soil. Why would he be worried anyway? The girl was perfectly fine with taking care of herself. His mind had been diligent in getting the contraption fixed before long. It was finally complete. Technical things like this really didn't suit him.

Then he thought of the girl's mother again.

Now that he had privacy, he had the privilege of delving into his own thoughts. That memory machine he used on himself from 5 years ago was complete trash. Why was he able to remember the conception of his daughter? Bulma didn't seem to haunt him nearly as much as she once did, but she was the center that his idle mind gravitated towards.

* * *

_Five Years Ago_

Vegeta entered the bedroom and went straight to the bathroom just like a trained dog. He knew that once he took a bath, the woman would allow him to fornicate with her. Although it was improbable, he feared losing his natural scent with these daily baths. Bulma pointed out to him that the stench was what penetrated the nose before pheromones. The Saiyan had no grounds to refute this statement, for her pheromones assaulted his cavities in the most arousing way a simple smell could. He knew she was entering before the doorknob turned and could feel her step inside the shower with him.

"Hey."

He heard her frown through the tone of her greeting. Knowing someone on such a level rivaled the ability to mind-read. "What is it?" he asked, feeling her wash over every cut in his back. It only stung a little, but he could feel how exposed they were by the drafts of cool air.

"I think you need to go to the infirmary or something, these cuts look really bad."

"I'd rather not make others aware of my injuries."

"Fine, do you have any first-aid-..." Bulma said in a shaky voice until she stepped out of the shower and nearly fell face flat on the hard, ceramic flooring. Her savior's grasp was close to crushing her wrist to keep her suspended above the ground. She looked up, her heart throbbing and her hands in a cold sweat to see his eyes fixed in a wide-eyed glare. "T-Thanks," she muttered as he slowly brought her back up. Her arm felt numb like it was dislocated or something, but it would've hurt a lot more if that were the case. Even a dislocated shoulder would be nothing compared to the gashes she observed on her lover's back. Just looking at them made her want to burst into tears and so she did.

Vegeta gritted his teeth. He could feel her tears seep into his open cuts. "What? Did I hurt you? It would've hurt a hell of a lot more to smash into that floor," he yelled and turned around to face her. She was covering her reddened eyes with her hand, revealing her freshly bruised wrist, but if that were what she was crying about then she'd be favoring it. "No one's supposed to know you're here!" The prince had made an effort to hide her presence from the rest of the crew for that week. He even went as far as to sneak food back into his room whenever the woman got hungry and periodically check on her to make sure she hadn't been executed.

She leaned into his chest, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck. "You're hurt," she sniffed, "really badly. It looks horrible. I don't get why you have to train that hard. Not even Goku trained that hard."

He couldn't help but admit to himself that the physical comfort of having the woman lean into him like she had been was unparalleled, but the verbal sympathy made him highly uncomfortable. He had been trained and reared to never accept pity from anyone, and, in fact, resent it, but he never had the chance to even do so until meeting her.

This was his opportunity to slide his hands along her slick, slender curves. He brought his hands to her waist as he embraced her entire body. Despite the tears that were steadily flowing from her eyes, his face grew a mischievous grin. "If you want to make me feel better, then allow me to give you a hint as to what you could do."

The blue eyed woman looked up through her bangs and furrowed her brow with anger, "No way, mister!" she yelled, "I'm not going to do anything with you tonight if you don't let me treat your wounds!"

"Fine! God damn it!" he yelled back, "Treat my stupid wounds but it won't do anything."

She smiled and proceeded to contently scrub his back as the grown man cringed with each stroke. He couldn't quite understand how this was supposed to make him _feel _any better. With ease, he could think of a thousand other activities they could do that seemed more appealing and beneficial than scrubbing his open cuts with soap and water. "Trust me; this'll help you prevent infection."

"I know what it does, but that doesn't mean it's necessary. Saiyans' immune systems are well equipped to automatically heal such scratches with time and little scarring."

"Oh, tell me more," she said in her playfully seductive tone. Coupled with the slight pain she was causing him, it sounded more sadistic than anything.

...

Later on, when they finally reached the bed, Bulma proceeded to wrap the prince's body in fresh gauze as he sat on the edge of the bed with his iconic grimace. She began wrapping his upper arm, and took his hand to put it on her shoulder. For whatever reason, he was avoiding looking at her. Slowly, she got closer to his face.

His eyes shot open, "What is it?" he said in a low voice.

She blushed, "Um, well, you look really cool right now. And..."

He smirked, "I thought you wanted to wait until after you finished wrapping this dreaded gauze around me," he then pulled her down to sit in her lap.

"No, not that!" she protested, "I mean, you've never kissed me."

"Kiss? What's that?"

"What do you mean you don't know what a kiss is?" she shouted. Luckily the doors and walls were well insulated or else the entire ship might've heard that outburst.

Yet and still, Vegeta suddenly pinned the young woman to the bed. "Quiet with your shouting," he spat – literally. He became even more flustered by seeing her mocking smirk.

Bulma let out a sigh while wiping the man's spit from her face. Now she felt like she was talking to the naïve young Goku she met in the forest. Vegeta may have been somewhat adept in bed, but he was by no means an affectionate lover. Only recently had he gained the ability to maintain eye contact throughout the intercourse. Otherwise the only notion of respect was the fact that he held back his strength enough not to crush her. That and he came back every night. And he fed her… And he held conversations that gained depth with each night that passed. But all that was nothing! There was never any kissing or compliments – just raunchy, dirty sex.

The gauze from his shoulder still hung above her face. There was the sort of silence that called for a kiss, and yet the prince upheld the same bemused glare concerning its exact definition. By her reddened face, he could infer that it was most likely an intimate act. But she said before that "kissing" differed from sex. "You _want_ me to do it you?" he asked as he assumed.

What she wanted was irrelevant. She wasn't going to tell someone to kiss her like she had to do with Yamcha in the beginning of their relationship. Now that she was older, she had to take the initiative herself. But she still felt insecure of what he thought of her. She traced her fingers down the bone-hard edge of his jaw down to his chin. Vegeta almost seemed handsome from such an angle. She smiled, "I want to know what you think of me. Am I beautiful?"

He paused. Usually, when anyone contacted his face, his reflexes would have him counter, yet with such soft, delicate fingers to have grazed his face, he could only feel the pleasant waves reverberate through his body. Warmth grew in his cheeks. It took him a second to actually realize the question.

Beautiful to Vegeta was like the terror in the eyes of a worthy opponent right before he slaughtered it. Beautiful was the revenge he sought and often dreamt about. Beautiful was the continual increase of stats concerning his power. Not this woman.

That was unless in this context beauty referred the portrait of the girl beneath him. Her slick blue hair that resembled water falling from her soft, porcelain head certainly did hold his interest. Sometimes he couldn't turn away from the dozens of expressions that would surface on her face. Her anatomical form was so well shaped and curved that he had never been able to imagine such an appealing structure. Then, upon, looking into her eyes, he realized just how deeply colored they were – so deep that looking into them could possibly occupy him for hours.

A ball in his chest dropped. This woman was more than beautiful. She was more beautiful than words could tell. By instinct, he lowered his face to rub his cheek to hers as he slowly took in her scent. Her skin against his felt purging and clean. Ironically, it opposed everything he once knew to be beautiful.

Bulma was ready and willing to take that as a yes, and she interpreted the physical gestures as the Saiyan's means for a kiss. Odd as it was it felt equivocally pleasant. "What are you doing?" she giggled.

He distanced himself and got up from the bed to wrap the hanging gauze around his arm. "I marked you," he stated plainly. His heart was still beating rapidly from the audacity of the gesture.

"Marked me? Isn't that what dogs do to their territory?" she followed him near the window.

"Many animals practice it," he kept his stoic act up, but felt more tense and cornered with each step the woman took towards him.

"So you're saying I'm your territory?" she asked, feigning irritation.

"Ye-…es," he said as he felt the bluehead wrap her arms around his neck. His eyes shot open, but not with the anger he was used to, but a sort of shock from the sudden contact. He allowed her to bring his forehead down to meet hers and her body weight to shift forward onto him. Her chin slowly angled upwards. He counted her few, heavy breaths that reached his nose and mouth. The proximity of this position sent sensations from his face down his spine. The corners of his mouth slightly twitched up until he felt her soft, full lips against his. The euphoric feeling he gained upon contact would've been enough to send him to his knees, but he stood still and strong against her force.

Instead of pinning her, he embraced her and leaned against the window to incline into her face. While his hand could've roamed, he kept his arms still and tight to lock her to him. He grunted for breathe to prolong the connection between their mouths. The feeling only intensified when he felt her tongue playfully glide into his mouth for a while. Then, without warning, she pulled away.

Vegeta wiped his mouth and formed a scowl. Now the woman was pulling off her baggy shirt. He gripped her hand to stop her.

"What?" she looked up and quirked an eyebrow at the confusion on his face.

"What are you doing now, woman?" he asked, his voice overflowing with frustration, "And what was that just now?"

Bulma smirked. "I'm undressing," she grew a sly grin on her face, "now here's the good part."

But that _was_ the good part, he almost thought. It felt even more comforting than sex.

"I just marked you," she explained, "Earthling style."

"Marked me?" he clenched his fist.

"With a kiss," she stuck out her tongue.

So that's what a kiss was. He slammed his fist on the well-built wall behind her. "Stop undressing and do it again," he ordered, "If it comes down to it, I'll be the one to undress you."

Bulma was suddenly giddy. He enjoyed it! She managed to seduce the scoundrel with a simple yet sensational kiss. The intensity she felt was reciprocated. She jumped up to wrap her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. "Deal!"

He slowly walked backwards to the bed where they lied together for the last time.

* * *

_Present _

The prince dismissed the thought from his mind as he felt the girl's energy suddenly deplete at rapid pace. And so he zoomed to her life force even faster, assuring to himself that the girl would be perfectly intact when he arrived. However, the site he reached and hovered above was horrifying. The poor girl was being tortured poisoned by the members of the village in front of the entire population. There was fear and shame in her eyes due to the position she found herself in, yet Vegeta held pure rage in his own. They needed to leave immediately so he could blow this planet up.

Tanga's determination was quickly giving way to weakness. They trapped her with invisible, floating nets that caught her and paralyzed her. Then suddenly she woke up, strapped to a wooden podium where all the purple blobs gathered around to emit their fumes to kill her. There wasn't the slightest chance that she'd be able to make it out alive. Her vision was fading fast as the blobs turned into blurs. A large speck entered the sky.

It felt familiar. But even that sense was growing numb.

It was the sound of a series of explosions that woke her from her daze. Hot hues of red and yellow and orange colored the scenery. She would surely be blown up as well.

"Vegeta," she muttered weakly. He would never come for her. He didn't even bother go searching for her. He probably had already left and was off to some other planet. At that moment, it was her mother that she was worried about. She probably already disappointed her by leaving so abruptly to go train with Piccolo. Maybe she'd get to train with Master Piccolo again wherever she was going now.

* * *

_One year ago_

"Mother!" a little girl with an aqua blue ponytail and full, black eyebrows shading her ebony eyes paced through the halls of her house. Her hair was quite long for her age in spite of her short attitude. "Mother!" she yelled, her voice getting a little higher in frustration. She wore a dark blue tank top with Capsule Corp written across the back that matched her white shorts and black shoes. Most girls her age might've preferred to wear something a bit more cute with flowers and bunnies, but not her. This attire best suited a warrior.

Opening the door to the lab, she found a familiar man with a black cat on her shoulders. "Grandpa!" she yelled using her outside voice before Dr. Briefs bumped his head on the machine above him, "Where is Bulma? The television is still broken and she said she'd fix it!" she complained quite informally. Her eyebrows remained knit from the adorable scowl that graced her face.

The genius sighed. Dr. Briefs rubbed the rapidly developing bump, "I'm not sure, sweetheart, but I think I'll be able to...fix it..." he looked up to the door and saw no one.

The girl left after "sweetheart". It was just like her mother to selfishly get distracted from her priorities. Since she said she was the one that was going to fix it, she'd be the only one that would fix it. It was about time the woman learned about honesty. This was important. The girl had a playlist of workout videos to use for her daily routine, and she had been patient enough to wait 3 days. Maybe she would have to learn how to fix electronics herself... she scoffed at the idea. Learning something as trivial as mechanics would take up an unnecessary amount of time.

The clock struck noon and the little girl's stomach growled angrily at that moment - as did she. Where was her mother? Now she was hungry and if there wasn't food on the table when she entered the kitchen, someone would have to pay.

"Hello, cutie pie," greeted her grandmother in a childish tone, "I've got your lunch ready."

She took her seat in front of the plate full of macaroni and cheese with hot dogs. This was a child's plate and would not be enough to satisfy her. She could always ask for seconds, however.

Bulma entered, dressed and ready to go, "Hey, Mom, have you seen Tanga?" She saw Tanga getting her fork ready to chow down on her meal. "Tanga!" shouted the woman angrily. The girl dropped her fork on the floor. "I've been looking for you all day! Are you ready? We were supposed to leave at 12 and here you are just hanging around in the kitchen!"

Tanga dryly looked at her mother, indifferent, but then remembered how she said something about going somewhere that Tanga already decided she wanted no part of. She got up to reach for the fallen fork, "You said you'd fix the TV last night and it's still broken."

"I told you to be in the copter at 12 o'clock!"

"I do not want to go," said the daughter of the woman that wasn't going to take crap today. She rose her fork to dig into the food.

"You don't have a choice," Bulma threatened, "and don't us that dirty thing! We'll eat at the reunion." She snatched the fork from the girl and tossed it in the sink across the room. "I'll get rid of every TV in this house and all your martial arts videos if you don't get in the copter right **now**!" The bright blue-head often resorted to reasoning with her 4 year old daughter. No, she couldn't just bribe her with a doll or a tea set or even a robot; it had to be punishment.

The content mother and her disgruntled daughter soon unloaded from the helicopter on a remote island. Bulma smiled, "Now, Tanga, be on your best behavior. These people are really nice. I grew up with them."

Tanga didn't care. At all. But gave a fake grin under her mother's glare. Slowly her brow relaxed into a easy expression. She took a deep breathe like she had practiced. Being cordial was not her forte, but it was sometimes necessary being in the famed Briefs dynasty. In actuality, she was a bit frightened to meet and greet these strangers. Her mother's city friends liked to hug and pinch her which was enough for her to reply with rage. Once she even hospitalized a flirtatious man from Bulma's past that insisted on hitting on her mother. So she "hit on" him, she remembered with a smirk.

Despite her pride in her strength, she regretted being so ruthless so often with people. But what better reason to avoid them all together? Fighting crime wasn't enough to satiate whatever she thirsted for. She had no one to seek vengeance on and no peers to practice with. Her potential felt completely stagnant and without purpose and only made her seem more inhumane to the masses. This monstrous power, however, would have its time.

"Hey, guys!"' Bulma entered with a smile in her "cheery person accent" as Tanga would call it. She winked back at her daughter, "You stay outside for now, alright? I want to surprise everyone," she whispered before going inside.

The demi-Saiyan sighed and decided to examine the foreign island by nearing the coast. The sand was getting in her shoes which she quickly shed. At least the water was at a nice temperature. It wasn't at all like the murky beaches she'd seen before in the city. Although, she noted, the city had more excitement like criminals that she could defeat. Even the city didn't have enough excitement.

Peace was boring...very boring. What she needed was a challenge. According to what her mom had told her, she had the makings of a great fighter in her blood. The citizens of West City all gawked at how amazing it was that a little girl was able to take on grown men with guns and defend the city and, hurrah, hurrah, she was the savior of the town. Being the descendant of such a esteemed company, she didn't need more attention.

For a while, her strength was feared throughout the town due to a tragic incident she didn't like recalling. Isolation was the only tactic the city resorted to. She was restricted to the confinements of Capsule Corp for most of the time. No one her age was even able to play with her. And for whatever reason, her tail kept her from going outside at night. Life would've been lonely if she still had the need for much human interaction. But she didn't and so she was fine.

A strong wind came and kicked up sand into her face. Her eyes watered and she scrambled to clear the dirt from her face. Upon clearing them, she could see an orange and yellow blob enter the horizon of the sea. They could've been friends, but Tanga didn't want to take any chances. She hopped up into a fighting stance and smirked. Speak of the devil, here was her challenge now.

"Hey!" yelled the friendly man with odd hair and a smile. He jumped off the yellow cloud with a tailed boy in green and yellow Chinese clothing at his side. "Oh, look, Gohan, it's a girl." He looked down at the frightened boy who was able to detect the girl's cold aura. "Hello there..." he paused, "You don't talk much either, do you?" With that he scratched the back of his head and averted his attention. "Are you lost? How'd you get here?"

Tanga said nothing, her brow furrowed nervously. She stared at the door without saying a word until her mother came out shortly after, "Goku! Hey!" Soon all the adults were surrounding both her and Gohan as they asked questions to their parents. Their tails met each other and they jumped. Tanga glared over her shoulder, daring the shaking boy to get any closer. But wait, why did this boy have a tail?

"Woah, so the girl is yours, Bulma, and the boy is Goku's. They both have tails, too!" observed Krillin. He knelt down to look at them and quirked an eyebrow, "Why do they both have tails?" Yamcha didn't have a tail, but he wasn't going to bring his name up again after how Bulma snapped earlier. Maybe there was something in the water... Krillin stared out into the ocean and shivered.

"Well, a lot of people don't believe me, but she's actually part Saiyan which is this race that comes from the Planet Vegeta. I did some, um, research on them and they're nearly all gone, but the ones that are left are warriors," said Bulma, responding to the sudden awareness that both children had tails. She had stopped telling the complete story after Tanga was boring, but in this case, her friends were more likely to believe her than anyone.

So this boy was part Saiyan as well... Tanga turned around to eye him. But this boy was cowering before her like a little girl. He couldn't be Saiyan.

"Gee, do you think Gohan and I might be part Sayin', too?" asked Goku, petting his son on the head.

The blue-head palmed her face and groaned, "I see you haven't changed. But yes, Goku, I actually think you might be entirely Saiyan since, you know, Chichi's completely human!"

The old, bearded man with sunglasses grinned at the young girl and boy, "Hey, how old are you two?" he asked and received only a look of disgust from Tanga and no eye contact whatsoever from Gohan who was still shaken up by his peer. He sighed and looked to their parents.

"Four," both Goku and Bulma said. They then both looked at each other.

"Hey, maybe they could be best friends like me and Krillin are," said Goku, looking at his old friend. "We're the same age!" he explained as if no one else was aware of it. He and Krillin had tons of adventures as kids. He then frowned, reminded how Chichi would never let Gohan go on any of the kind of adventures Goku made. Gohan could barely fend for himself in the forests around their house - let alone go on his own adventure. But maybe since they were both 'Sayings', Chichi would have a change of heart. Bulma made it seem like it was a powerful thing to be.

"Or sparring partners," interjected Master Roshi although he wasn't entirely up for the idea of training them himself. He did have Krillin there though who was perfectly capable of training.

Tanga's ears perked up at that suggestion although she immediately declined the thought. No one her age had the ability to rival her in strength and she doubted this kid had what it took. She scoffed nearly silently. Heck, not even adults could compete with her.

Goku sighed, "Well, that's the thing, Chichi doesn't really let him fight...at all. She said the world's peaceful these days, so who needs martial arts? What he needs is 'study'...**" he looked a bit irritated.

"Tanga's been itching to fight since she was born," Bulma bragged, clenching her fists. She was a bit shocked herself that her kid had more experience than Gohan in fighting - it was Goku that defeated King Piccolo, but she was pleased nonetheless. "I know you hermits probably haven't heard, but Tanga's become quite the celebrity in West City. She saved an old lady from getting mugged."

Krillin quirked an eyebrow at the girl, grinning, "Wow, that's pretty impressive for someone so small and cute!" The young girl crossed her arms in response. Chills ran down the mid-sized man's spine. You'd think she'd be a lot more friendly for a city hero. This girl was colder than ice, and his self-esteem was taking a beating just having her look at him. Maybe she just wanted a way to let out her anger. Either way, he didn't want to be her target.

She began to walk away. These adults were beginning to annoy her. "Bulma," she said over her shoulder, attracting the attention of everyone.

Bulma scratched the back of her head nervously and laughed, "Oh, she means 'mother'! She hasn't had her nap today." She marched up to the unphased girl and leaned down to whisper, "I told you to stop calling me by my name!" She pushed down on her head and looked towards the others, "What's wrong, sweetie? Are you tired?"

"No, I'm hungry," she scoffed. Her mother only acted like this in front of other people. Other times, they wouldn't have to whisper to argue. Bulma would usually lose her breath along with the argument and send Tanga to her room which was a bit short of confinement. In public, however, the argument wouldn't end until she learned to behave.

The blue head grabbed her daughter's cheeks and tugged, "Aw, don't cry..." she giggled, "Just go lie down **inside**." That was her final order.

Tanga wasn't opposed. Isolation was an optimum punishment that satisfied them both. She entered the Kame House with a smug smile on her face. Her nose twitched to inhale the savory scent of dumplings that sat on a platter on the buffet table. This was Bulma's fault in the first place! Couldn't she have waited 20 extra minutes for her to finish her food earlier?

The tower of dumplings she stacked on her plate was taller than her. She dropped a few on her way to the table in front of the TV. Maybe she would take a nap. After all, it'd take some time before she was able to get out of here. Her eyelids sank. She yawned. Eating dumplings apparently made her very, very sleepy. Or maybe it was just boredom. The moist beach air that drafted in through the window felt airy enough to carry to sleep.

**-  
**"Tanga! Wake up! Gohan's been taken," Bulma shouted in despair rushed inside and picked the half-awake girl up. The shakiness of her voice meant that the situation was serious. There were a few times when Tanga knew not to argue with her mother. Once had been when she asked why she never met her father. She said he was alive, but the look in her eyes told her not to ask again. That silenced the young girl about the subject. All she knew of her father was that he had been a prince of someplace far away.

Soon they had boarded the helicopter. Tanga rubbed her eyes and looked around. For whatever reason, she was in Krillin's lap. He had quite a few scratches on his hands and arms. She squirmed, "Who took Gohan?" The concern she felt was as uncomfortable as the person she was sitting on. It seemed her ego was diluted by her somnolence.

"Goku's brother - Raditz, he's a Saiyan, too," said Krillin who then got a glare from Bulma, "I meant alien!" he corrected himself.

A Saiyan? She had a glint in her eyes, "He's like me? Does he have a tail?" asked Tanga excitedly.

"No," said Bulma, gritting her teeth, "He's very evil and wants to turn Goku and Gohan into a monster." Thank god Tanga was sleep when Raditz arrived or else he would've taken her, too. It seemed he wanted Goku to join them...but of course Goku wouldn't want to destroy anything. He didn't even want to kill Piccolo when he had the chance! In fact, she doubted he even had it i him to kill his new found brother. Could he kill him? It seemed like even Goku doubted himself before he flew off.

Children have a natural ability to pick up on their parents' emotions and Tanga was no exception. She studied her mother's face and looked around at everyone else. Maybe being a Saiyan wasn't a good thing. Maybe she could become a monster, too. Staring at her tail, she recoiled it, "Oh..." she said. She wasn't allowed to look at the moon like werewolves, and werewolves were monsters. Her tail was pretty weird looking, too.

It was almost kind of comforting to know that someone else on the planet had a tail like her, but if they were both monsters, then what was the point?

"Don't be sad, Gohan's going to be okay," said Master Roshi, patting her on the back. That wasn't what she was worried about at that point. If Gohan was truly a Saiyan warrior, he'd be able to take care of himself. She sighed. Whatever she said always seemed like a different language since whenever she explained herself, no one would understand her.

Sometimes she wanted to be entirely human. Living in the city, she knew what normal girls were supposed to be like. She was supposed to have friends and go to the park and play with toys. But no. Friends couldn't play with her, park equipment couldn't handle her and toys... toys were her training equipment.

It was in Gohan's, too. But then, when they arrived, why was he lying on the ground like a ragdoll?

"Oh, no!" said Bulma at the sight before hurrying outside with everyone else.

Krillin set Tanga in the spot beside him. She was still pretty tired, yet the horrific sight had broken her drowsiness quite a bit. Just that quickly, peace had been shattered. She felt an odd sense of anxiety as she stared through the window at the hole in the spiky man's abdomen. A human couldn't have made that hole. Fast as light, her eyes traced to the green man talking to Bulma and her friends. He must've done it, but that wasn't a Saiyan. The Saiyan with the tail was the dead man on the ground. The green man beat the Saiyan!

The scene caused her heart to pound in her chest. She charged out of the helicopter with an awkward land. With her fists clenched, she called out, "Hey, what happened?" Her voice was too weak to be heard.

"That boy today showed he might be the strongest person on this planet, and he's our only hope if we have a chance against the Saiyans," said the green man with a smirk. He must've been powerful if he was the one that beat the Saiyan, but of course he didn't know what real power was if he thought Gohan was the strongest person on the planet! That weakling... "Tell Goku he can have his son back in one year, until then, I'll be training Gohan," he said and used some kind of psybeam to transport Gohan into his arms.

What? The ultimate power couldn't be in Gohan. She had to prove him wrong! Tanga dashed towards the Piccolo and latched onto him the second his feet left the ground. She looked down and saw she was already several feet from the floor. "If you take that baby, you have to take me, too!" she shouted.

"Tanga!" yelled Bulma, "Get down here right now!" The little girl came out of nowhere and had rushed back into her sight, latching on to the strongest enemy she'd seen .

"Mom, I'm going to go train!"

* * *

_*Goku's not stupid. He's adorable. _

_**Quote from Vol1 of the manga..._

**hmfan24: Jeez, I had a hard time arranging this. I know most people expected Bulma and Vegeta to meet in the present, but I didn't want to rush to Namek too fast. So I put in a flashback. Then another... **

**Um, I also got flamed for being a loser(?) for writing this "stupid" story through a PM. That doesn't mean I'll stop. I like writing and it makes me happy when my life is sad and lonely. I wish to be better, so I'll try to do better. If you guys have suggestions, please tell me. I was pleased to see the replies on my profile page concerning the genre. Thanks.  
**

** Next update should be next Friday. (My younger brother said I need a schedule for releasing.) I'll take it back to the present. Maybe they'll get to Namek or maybe Tanga will need the help of the Dragon Balls.  
**


	4. Familiar

**Warning: Contextual Reassignment  
**

* * *

**Giving Up is Giving In  
**

**Chapter 4: Familiar  
**

**_by hmfan24_  
**

* * *

Tanga woke up, only half-way conscious which was evident from the random lines she'd mumble through her pale, blue lips. The poison in her blood was quickly deteriorating her constitution. The once blinding light of death was finally beginning to fade in and out her vision. Her breath was labored to the point that she could hear it until slowly but surely it regained its normal rate. Soon her body wasn't as sore. She could move her limbs freely. At that instant, she felt rejuvenated!

The scene she observed upon opening her eyes was morbid despite her exhilarated sentiment. Through the green, medicinal liquid and wall of glass, she could see alien corpses lying on the ground behind her father. Vegeta was looking straight at her with steadfast preoccupation. What was going on? Last thing she remembered was being surrounded by purple, poisonous blobs and breathing in a gas that smelled like grape Tylenol with codeine. Now she was in some sort of chamber being healed with whatever she was floating in.

Things were only just starting to get weird, she thought to herself. Kicking her legs, she was able to propel forward to tap on the glass.

Vegeta felt his chest and muscles release tension that had unconsciously presented itself before. He continued to adjust the settings of the chamber as Tanga's condition slowly improved. With his free hand, he swiped the beads of cold sweat that had formed on his forehead. This girl would be the death of him. "You should've just gone to sleep if you couldn't have handled those aliens, you idiot!" he shouted among other things upon deaf ears several times for the 2 hours he waited for her to wake up, healed and alleviated from her poisoned slumber like nothing had ever happened, yet all he could dwell on was the helplessness he saw in the girl's eyes as she was tortured before thousands.

He blacked out after that. The blobs perished one by one at his hands within one minute until the entire landscape became leveled. The instant he recovered Tanga, he retreated only to escape the planet's atmosphere and blow the entire rock to pieces. There was no momentous pleasure he gained, yet a sense of relief that he found in avenging the torture of something that belonged to him. This relief was approximately on level with how he imagined defeating Frieza to be like.

But then. The girl's health presented itself as an obstacle. At one point during their trip to one of the Planet Trade Organization's bases, her debilitated countenance gave cause to reason that she might not even make it to any suitable treatment. This was her fault, yet something in the prince couldn't allow her to meet the malignant face of consequence.

And so here he was, silently imploring the revival of his daughter and all her rash habits.

"Hey," yelled Tanga before coughing. It was hard to talk while immersed in liquid. Vegeta had been staring right at her without changing his expression as if she didn't even move, yet finally she watched him realize that she was indeed conscious. To put it best, she felt like she just had a 3 year nap. A grin grew on her lips. Yes! She wasn't dead!

With a growl, Vegeta hit a big, blue button that drained the fluid from the chamber. He took the girl's grin as a mocking gesture.

Apparently the chamber didn't drain fast enough for the blue-haired child, for she felt her anxiety to get out grow. With an explosion of energy, she demolished the apparatus and met her feet with the ground. "Hey, why am I stronger now!" she asked angrily. Her brow furrowed. The sudden destruction was on accident. She had only meant to try to push herself up, but instead she destroyed the entire thing. "I don't get it. I thought I was dying," she said, looking at her own hands then grabbed the air. Her hair was still dripping and her vision had yet to be fully restored. Vegeta had his back turned and was headed out the door.

"Hurry up and eat. We'll be leaving momentarily," he commanded without a why or a who or a where or a how. The door closed behind him.

So Tanga was supposed to just follow him anyway? There really was no other option. She stepped over the scattered bodies of aliens while holding her nose to get to the buffet table of food. It would probably be easier to scarf down the entire thing, but Vegeta said they were in a hurry, so she decided to be obedient for all intents and purposes and grab as much as she could. She stuffed the assortment of grain and fruit dishes and hesitantly grabbed the dairy dish that looked like it might have been cheese. It smelled like food. She shrugged it off and grabbed it along with the sketchy meat dishes, and down they went in her dried, spandex suit.

She spun around to meet the black orbs that leered at her. All the goods she had gathered rolled from out her collar onto the floor as she jumped. "Don't **do** that!"

"Eat here. It'd be idiotic to eat in a ship moving 1 light-year per hour," he ordered then exited the room.

Tanga made a nasty face, "Don't tell me what to do," she told the door instead of the man the words were meant for, "I wasn't going to eat in the ship anyway." Bitterly, she chomped on the creamy cheesy dish that was a lot tastier than she initially thought it'd be. She'd have to get more.

When she caught up to Vegeta, he immediately made his way to the conveyor, he didn't look back. She decided to focus on her hands. At least she didn't get punished for destroying the thing that healed her. Rather, at least she didn't get punished by the thing that healed her. She concentrated on the back of his head. Why though? If he was so evil, then why didn't he just leave her to die? The entire ordeal was her fault and he didn't even blame her. Even her mom would've at least scolded her like she did the few times she ran away. For some reason, she got the feeling that he'd be angrier if she actually inquired about his intentions than her actions alone. So she said nothing and obediently got into the pod with no further questioning.

By the time they got into the pod, she couldn't hold her tongue. "Vegeta," she began through the intercom. She waited in order to form her question so that it could be properly answered, but ended up blurting out the first thing that came to mind so that she wouldn't give way to fear. "What happened? I don't get it! One minute I get captured by those nasty blob monsters then the next I wake up in a tank full of slime and...and..." she sighed. There was no way he'd respond to something like that.

"You were malnourished before, correct?"

"What?" Tanga asked. Her eyes widened. What did that mean? "Like, I didn't have any food? Uh, yeah, I guess," Was he making an excuse for her? She had a couple of fruits, but he ate most of the food she gathered. What was left was not enough to satisfy her. So maybe he was right.

Vegeta cleared his throat before pressing the button to send another message, "You foolishly allowed yourself to go without food therefore you nearly got yourself killed, so I had to come in and keep you from disgracing the entire Saiyan race! Don't let it happen again," he ordered.

"Alright," she complied. It _was_ disgraceful. Tears surfaced from her eyes. At least she was stronger now. She continued, "It won't ever happen again! I'm even stronger now, so you can bet that I'll..."

"Surpass all the other Saiyans," finished Vegeta in his thoughts. The resemblance in their mantra was uncanny to the point that it seemed supernatural. He closed his eyes and could easily vision the words coming from his younger version's mouth. It was all but comforting, for even now he doubted his abilities to complete what really mattered which motivated him most on his journey to Namek. When he emerged from his thoughts the girl was still going on with her boast. "When we get to Namek," he interrupted, "we are looking for the Dragon Balls. You are to aid me in finding them, understood?" They were in a hurry. Vegeta had been informed that Frieza was on his way to Namek to recover the Dragon Balls as well. He had to obtain them before Frieza by any means necessary.

This posed as a problem to Tanga. She forgot about the Dragon Balls on Namek. That's probably where her mom and Gohan and everybody were headed right now to revive the fallen warriors. Although if she got Vegeta out of her hair, then maybe she'd be able to wait around a year until they came back. She looked down and noticed her finger on the button, but she hadn't said anything, "U-Understood," she stuttered in her hesitation to agree, "I'll help you find them, but what are you gonna use them for? But if you see my mom, you can't talk to her!"

Vegeta's eyebrow twitched, "Was that a condition? I'll do whatever the hell I want!" Wait...would Bulma be there?

* * *

"Tanga."

"..."

"Tanga."

"..."

"_Princess_ Tanga of Planet Vegeta."

"What? What do you want?" Tanga barked back. It had been a long trip to this blue-grassed planet. She didn't bother looking back as she put back on the white boots she took off. The outfit made her even feel evil. The shoulder pads were beginning to make her neck feel weird, too. Unfortunately her monetary fortune was invalid throughout the pathways of space, so she couldn't even buy better fighting wear.

Vegeta scowled. He could slowly feel his sanity spilling from his ears. It seemed every time he made an order or a comment or even asked a question to the girl, he would receive nothing but a dry look if anything at all. That was no way to treat a savior - especially a savior who could just as easily take her life away; however, that thought failed to even graze his mind. Had he been this way with Nappa? "You are either deaf or blind - which is it? I've been calling your name for the past hour, and you have not said a word to me. Obviously you must have taken leave of one of those senses if you suppose that you're able to handle me like that."

For some reason she felt irritable and anxious to see an Earthling. She'd even be happy to see Krillin. The hot-blooded, full-blooded Saiyan's face alone was making her nauseous. She flew up after securing her boot to her feet. If she were to be around Vegeta any longer, her head might explode. Some of the power levels felt quite familiar to her. As soon as she found the Dragon Balls, she could reunite with them.

"Where do you think you're going?" the prince demanded from the ground, forgetting he could fly for the blind fury of the moment, "Get back here! You have no idea what you're doing!"

"I'm going to go look for the Dragon Balls like you said," she whined, "That's what we're here for right?"

Finally, the flame-haired man flew up and held Tanga by the back of the neck in order to temporarily block her ki and motion. "The natives of this planet may be weak, but we're not the only invaders here. Don't get yourself killed by doing something stupid again."

The girl cringed. "I won't hold back this time," she said in a fragile voice like a soldier receiving orders.

"Take this so we can correspond," he got out a scouter and put it in the girl's hand. "I need to keep track of you as much as I can to assure you don't commit treason. It'll give you the ability to pin point who is worthy of fighting. It was in her blood, after all. Individual loyalty was hard to form in a Saiyan's mind.

She looked at it with disgust, "No way, can't we just meet up or something?"

"Do as I say," he said before abruptly dropping her to free fall to the ground. With that he jetted off.

Tanga's father was beginning to sound more and more like her mother. She wiped the dirt from her face and stood up with insecure knees. "Augh!" she fired up her ki and charged into the sky.

As Tanga flew, she almost immediately spotted a shiny orange orb hidden in some sort of shrine. Lowering her feet to the surface, she took in the glances of the beings that resembled Piccolo. So these were the Namekians. "I'm here to take the Dragon Ball," she announced assertively and without tact. By the touch of her scouter, she could see that these beings were only slightly powerful than the average human. They were nothing compared to the last enemies she's faced, and so if they were hostile, she could handle herself. She smirked and slowly walked to the shrine.

"I'm sorry, miss," said a raspy voice as a foreign green hand touched her shoulder.

Immediately, she turned around and held her quivering palm up prepared to fire. She was panting. Her eyes were wide open. She didn't realize how on-edge she was until she caught sight of the energy forming on her hand. This was the dread she had of disgracing the Saiyan race like she had before. This was her dread of failure that surfaced. She lowered her hand. "I didn't mean to do that," she mumbled and averted her stare. Just like Earth, she had gained the attention of everyone around her from her unnecessary outburst.

"It's fine. We understand fear," said the older Namekian.

Tanga didn't want to confront these things any further. By doing so, she'd be risking their lives rather than hers. She still had to do what she had to do. And so she dashed for the Dragon Ball before leaping into the air and charging through the atmosphere.

If Tanga had let go of that energy, they would all be dead by now. She shivered as a picture of her father flashed in her mind. He was fully capable of razing the village – both physically and mentally. Being around him for such a short amount of time was affecting her more than it should've been. The scary part was she probably wouldn't have negotiated with the Namekians before meeting Vegeta either. The part when she snapped didn't feel like her, but she had done something like that before. Maybe being around him wasn't influencing her. Maybe she had always shared these rash traits with him, and was just beginning to realize them.

When she had her first taste of blind rage on Earth, she did feel bad for being provoked. Like her father said before, she allowed weaklings to provoke her, and that was what made her the weaker warrior. At least he had the ability to not let everything agitate him. He had a sense of control over his power, so maybe he wouldn't have destroyed the village like she almost did.

Unless it was for his benefit like to hasten past the hassle of hearing them.

She let out a sigh. If one were to look at it like that, she saved their lives.

"Tanga!" Gohan suddenly swooped in out of nowhere to tackle the blue-haired girl with a hug. Tears of joy formed in the corner of his eyes. It was a good feeling to see an ally after not knowing of their condition for a month. They had in fact spent a year of training with each other prior to her kidnap. Even if she seemed to resent his existence, her well-being remained important to him. "You're okay! I knew it was you," he cheered.

The girl blinked at him. Usually she would scold him for being so affectionate, but she couldn't help not to feel enthusiasm for seeing him as well. "Gohan," she nodded with a blank stare. It was almost unbelievable to see him millions of miles from home. His presence felt unreal, yet upon hearing his voice there was no doubt that this was her partner.

The innocent boy wiped his nose and gave a big smile. He had to fight off his mother to get here. They had figured out that Vegeta would be headed to Namek eventually and hopefully along with Tanga. Half of the journey was to rescue the Briefs girl (or recover her if she were dead), and he was more than loyal enough to take part despite his fears. "Did you come here with Vegeta? Maybe he's not as mean as I thought," he commented before finally letting go of her.

The female hybrid flipped her hair and shrugged. "Well, you know he didn't kill me," she said proudly. There was no way she'd tell anyone that she found out Vegeta was her father - no chance in HFIL. It's embarrassing to be related to such a savage. "I didn't _let_ him kill me," she added to not show her weakness to her comrade.

"Heh, yeah, he is your father after all," Gohan smiled.

Tanga lost her balance. "H-Hey! Who told you that!" she snarled, spit flying freely from her mouth.

"Miss Bulma did. She said that's where you get your tail from," he giggled.

"Gr..." she gritted her teeth and looked at the ground, meters below them, "Yeah, so what I'm related to him? That doesn't mean anything. I'm my own Saiyan." She flipped her blue hair again and grinned after spotting the brown tail hanging from Gohan's back. It must've grown back. She raised her tail to grip his with quite a bit of resistance. At least he didn't get weaker, but if Vegeta was right about the zenkai, she should be much stronger than Gohan. She frowned.

"Hm," he pushed his fingers through the roots of his bowl cut as he thought aloud, "maybe he'll be on our side now that he's met you."

That would be impossible. There was no way that man would ever form an alliance with the Earthlings. "No, he won't, Gohan," she said more solemnly than she thought she felt. Once he found the Dragon Balls, he'd probably just leave off somewhere. She looked up to the sky.

Gohan furrowed his brow with concern. "Tanga..." he thought but didn't say, for he knew she'd probably violently snap at him for noticing her sadness. Maybe she wanted him to be a good guy, too. She was even dressed like him. "Hey, um, how about you come back to the ship and see your mom and Krillin's there, too," he suggested, conscious not to extend his hand to her.

Her instructions were to find the Dragon Balls for now. Gohan was probably looking for them, too, and she could probably use him to lead her to them. But no, Gohan might have been weaker and more foolish than she; however, that didn't mean she should trick him. He was still innocent and cared about her and something about betraying him like that felt wrong. In the end, she resolved, it's wasn't like she was getting the Balls for her own uses, but to keep Frieza from destroying them all. Even without the scouter, she could tell that Vegeta would be the only one that could come close to Frieza's power level.

So... to tell Gohan or not was the major dilemma. In the past, she very seldom disclosed any information to him. Although if there were anyone in the universe she had opened up to the most, it'd be Son Gohan. She sighed and stared at his face for longer than she realized. "Gohan..." she said, softly and with a frown, "I need to find the Dragon Balls. I can't tell you what for, but will you help me?"

"Find the Dragon Balls? I am, too," he said semi-cheerfully knowing the graveness of her voice meant she had other intentions. "But what do you mean? You don't want to revive Tien and Yamcha and Master Piccolo?" anger grew in his voice. "What's going on? I can't believe what you're saying..."

Tanga distanced herself from the boy. Kami, she felt like crying. The pain in Gohan's voice made every inch of her body cringe. She scowled, frustrated with the situation more than anyone in particular - besides herself. "I'll tell you if you beat me, but I still can't let you make your wish."

"What?" he stood, his body refused to get into a stance in the midst of such circumstances, "Why can't you tell me now?" Tears poured from his eyes. "I hate it when you don't tell me what's wrong."

"..." she stayed silent. Her head hung low as she charged at him.

"Tanga, tell me! Don't do this!"

* * *

"Will you listen to me, woman?" Vegeta growled at the blue-haired woman. He gesticulated in a hopeless fashion, "There's no getting through to you is there?"

"Well, you tell me, Vegeta! You obviously didn't try to 'get through to me' for 5 years!" Bulma roared as she poked the prince's chest.

"I had my memory erased!" he said as he grazed his light grip up her arm to stop her incessant one-fingered punch.

"Like I care. That's your fault! And then you take Tanga, but not me!"

Krillin slowly backed away as far as he could from the barbaric scene in the capsule house lodged inside the cavern. Vegeta had suddenly reappeared and was both verbally and sexually harassing Bulma about finding the Dragon Balls. It was odd in that the mid-sized man wasn't sure if she was actually enjoying it or not. She was kind of touching him back and whenever Krillin spoke up, they would both yell at him. Even if he wanted to, he doubted he could stand up to Vegeta - or Bulma for that matter.

Upon nearing the edge, he sensed both Tanga and Gohan flaring their power levels. That wasn't good. "I'm going to go check on Tanga and Gohan," he muttered, bumping into Dende on the way out. Dende gave him a desperate look, "Yeah, you can come, too," Krillin patted the young Namekian on the back. They both jetted off as fast as they could with more motivation to leave the terrifying scene than to locate Tanga and Gohan.

After defeating Cui, Vegeta had tried to haughtily and concisely explain to the Earth Woman what had happened over the past month, and she ended up wanting an explanation for the past five years. Somehow this five minute stop turned into an argument. He sighed and decided to get through to her was to crush her with a kiss. Without words, his hands roamed her body and pulled her into him. His ears relaxed and drank in the silence coupled with her echoing moans. If this was her plan all along, then she truly deserved her title as a genius, for the brutal Saiyan slowly felt himself yielding to her just as he had years ago. What had started as his way to gain control, shifted into a game for her. He could feel her smirk against his mouth like this was her plan from the start.

Apparently it didn't matter that he'd abducted their child for a month. She was more upset for the fact that he'd been gone for 5 years. This woman missed him - an "evil" man as Tanga had once put it. That notion nearly comforted him, so, minutes later, when he finally decided to release her from their intimate embrace on the ground that had escalated from a simple kiss, he let her hold him. A grin of relief grew on his face as if he just scratched the biggest itch of his life. He slid his hand down the center of her body to assure himself that this wasn't another one of his wild, wet dreams.

"I didn't do anything to the brat," he assured her for a reason he was both puzzled by and proud of.

She nodded and cleared her throat to make way for breath. It took her a moment, but she was finally able to breathe enough to speak, "I know," she said. "I don't think I'd be able to last this long if I didn't know she was safe."

What the hell? He never had any intentions of hurting the young girl and yet he wasn't exactly a saint that would come across as giving anything to protect her. "What makes you think that? I was the one that brutally injured Kakarot," he exclaimed, pointing a finger at himself.

"You really don't remember, do you?" she closed her yellow jacket around her so that the Saiyan would stop arbitrarily groping her. "Well, Tanga's a lot like you are. You said that you'd never treat your kid like Frieza treated you and so there you go. That was your way of saying you wouldn't hurt her. Right?"

Give this woman a doctorate and call her genius because she was able to read Mr. Blank like a book within the one week they spent together and go as far as to predict his future actions. Vegeta growled. His frustration was amplified as he saw Bulma start to get dress. It was a pet peeve that stemmed from their very first encounter. Not only that, but he felt like he was more vulnerable than she was in more ways than one. He was on the wrong end of the two-end mirror she observed him through, and anything he said could and would be used against him. He had been blissfully ignorant of just how deep she was digging into him.

So he decided to counter. "She got poisoned," he muttered.

She cringed, "What?"

"We were on a planet. She ran away and got poisoned," he said, realizing just how painful it was to recall.

"Is she okay now?" she said with a grave look on her face. She sensed the shame on his face immediately.

The smirk that he expected for his face never came. "Yes, I healed her and she's fine now," he informed her. The suspense would've sickened his ears, and he found he had no real reason for holding something like that over her head. The more he recalled it, the more he resented not snatching her out of the night's sky.

When he looked up to the deep blue eyes that were beaming at him, he could see them sparkle with delight. "You really do care about her! You're not some sick monster," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm not soft. There aren't many Saiyans left," he mumbled. "It'd be shameful for my entire race for her to die at the hands of the weaklings that poisoned her." He tried his best to cover up the very parental feelings he had while recovering her ailing body. The prince could still feel the desperate panic he felt as he rushed her to the nearest base. By looking at his mate's face, he could tell just how legible his face was. She saw that he cared. He wouldn't bother denying any further, however.

him being an alien, his human qualities were clear to her. Most would think she was the same idealistic girl she had always been, but by using her intuition she could understand both the prince and her daughter. "She's just like you. It's weird how that works since she's never met you. I bet you had fun," she said and stuck her tongue out.

"I was much different than she is," he lied before trying to think of a major difference. She didn't cry as much as he did at that age, but he wasn't going to admit that. As a young child, he cried whenever he didn't get what he wanted or get treated like he should've. He was a grade-a brat. With good cause, he felt neglected. Tanga, however, managed to reflect his present stoic behavior. She had mastered the mask of indifference to being inferior.

"She's probably just as adorable as you were," she stated, "as you are right now."

This would've aggravated Vegeta more had the woman not be pressed up against his body like she was. He felt himself yielding to yet another one of her sexual ploys to get him to open up.

* * *

Tanga could feel herself overpower Gohan with ease*. The power of the zenkai was real and she had hoped that pushing him to his limits would make him stronger as well, so she didn't hold back. Strike after strike she could feel a tear falling from her eyes. This was a lot harder than she thought it'd be. Using this process that she felt would strengthen her comrade, she realized the attachment she felt to him. This fight was tearing her apart. "Let's stop," she said, "You win." She felt sweaty and sick from the entire situation. Never had she ever simply let anyone win, yet this was an exception.

"Tanga! What are you doing?" Krillin reprimanded and approached the scene with Dende by his side. He got her into a Nelson hold to prevent her from doing any more damage. "Cut it out, you two," he ordered. "Can't you see we have bigger battles to fight?"

There was silence for a moment. The young princess was steadily trying to keep from making eye contact with anyone. Maybe she had gone stir crazy from being crammed in the confinements of outer space for a month - away from her friends and family and stuck with her fearsome father. But no, she needed a good reason to spill the beans about her plan, and Gohan proved to provide a fitting path.

Krillin nodded for Dende to begin healing Gohan. Dende put his hands to the boy and gave a half-hearted smile, "Here you go, Gohan." He was confused just as much as everyone else was at that point. This new, strange girl was supposedly an ally.

"We need to defeat Frieza, right?" she yelled, lifting her head to stare at Gohan, "He killed the Saiyans, Gohan. He's killed millions and now he wants the Dragon Balls to become immortal. And so even if we get them first, he'll probably kill us! I can't beat him and neither can Frieza. If Vegeta gets immortal then we don't have to worry about Frieza killing everyone!"

The Son hybrid stood still. His knees were still shaking from the adrenaline rush he had felt from fighting off his friend as if she were a foe. "That's all it was?" he asked, confused, "You could've just told me. We didn't have to fight!" he was still quite angry, but at the same time hurt that they hadn't built a better relationship where she could talk to him properly. He was well aware of her pride as a Saiyan (having been consistently reminded of her Saiyanism). "You don't think even Master Piccolo could do it if we wished him back? My dad's coming here soon, too! We could all fight together," he pleaded, flailing his restored arms. They could try anything but wishing Tanga's dad immortality. The idea didn't settle well with him.

Gohan was correct in Tanga's mind. Maybe they could band together and fight, but she considered what Vegeta might do if she decided to help. That's what fearing your father is like, huh? Although in her case, the consequence could be deadly for those around her. "We have to find them first," she said with a smirk.

Krillin finally let her go and put both his hands to his hips. "Tanga's right," he agreed.

The young girl scoffed, "Like I needed you to tell me that."

"..." he paused with a frown. Same old girl. He supposed that was a good thing. "Let's find them first and then..." he tried to continue, but kept seeing her glare at him the entire time. Maybe they should just begin now.

"Krillin, did you grab the radar?" Gohan looked to the short, older man.

Krillin looked back to the direction of the cave. He really didn't want to go back to the cave of the quarrelling couple(?), but there were no other options. They needed the radar to at least keep track of the Dragon Balls. He looked at Tanga, skeptically. There was a chance she could've changed after being under the influence of Vegeta, but he dismissed it. She was still young. "I'll go get it," he said with a sigh before going back.

Dende watched him disappear into the horizon. He then turned to see the two children happily chatting. Their tails were nearly wagging as they talked about the girl's adventure. Gohan seemed quite open towards her compared to even Krillin which is why it was odd that the two resolved to fight earlier. Perhaps it was a human thing to have such fickle temperaments.

Gohan then brought Dende to meet Tanga. He smiled, "This is our new friend – Dende! He can heal people and he's really cool."

Something didn't settle well with the girl as she stared into the green child's eyes. They were just like the eyes of the man she nearly killed. "Dende, huh?" she said coolly, "I'm Tanga also known as Gohan's superior training partner. I'm a Saiyan - part of the most powerful race in the universe."

The hybrid boy rolled his eyes. "She likes to brag," he whispered.

Tanga's eyebrow twitched. "What was that? At least I have something to brag about!" she said, shaking her fist at Gohan. She turned back to Dende, "You're a Namekian, right?" she asked. She made a funny face at the two antennas on his head. So much for the Namekians being able warriors like Piccolo was…these guys were nothing like him.

The pink, fleshy blob known as Dodoria arrived in the mile radius. The team got into their appropriate stances. Gohan and Tanga exchanged a look. Reading the scouter, she could tell that this guy was already going to cause them trouble. On top of that, she still felt sick from the journey here. Her body felt hot and her palms were sweaty, but she could swear she wasn't nervous. "Gohan, I might need more help than usual," she nodded. God, she was sick if she was asking Gohan for help.

He nodded. He had already intended on taking up half the battle, but her request unnerved him. She never asked for help. "Alright, Tanga," he replied. He'd seen Dodoria along with Zarbon earlier. The two were no joke. They wiped out Dende's village in a second. It seemed like the enemies he encountered kept getting stronger, and he kept getting weaker. Oddly enough he felt quite a bit stronger after fighting with Tanga. He looked up at her and mentally sent his thanks.

Gohan acknowledged the bluehead's terms of friendliness. Her attitude rivaled his mother's. Sure she was controlling and choleric and condescending, but there was never a time where she allowed him to meet harm. He reciprocated the actions within his own power. Not that it was acknowledged on her part – not even with a simple "thank you". She would never in her life admit anyone else as her savior.

"So Vegeta had whelps," assumed the pink alien as he stared at their tails.

"He's not my dad. My dad is Goku," snapped Gohan.

Tanga scowled. She didn't like being called a 'whelp'. And she certainly didn't like being associated with Vegeta. Yet she had no argument against the statement, so she simply floated mid-air with her arms crossed.

* * *

Vegeta stepped out of the shower and was returned to the bedroom. He surveyed the room that was decorated with unnecessary posters and pictures. "So is this how Earthlings live? How pathetic…"

"Oh, be quiet," said Bulma from the bed in just a bath towel. She was flipping through a fashion magazine, and didn't even bother to look up when he entered the room. "Don't you have something better to do other than standing there brooding about how I fix my room? We saw a lot of scary guys out there. Be a good prince and protect me," she mocked before biting into her apple.

"Hey!" he shouted, "Don't talk to me like that. Saiyans don't protect anyone but themselves." As much as he hated it, she was right. He had wasted far too much time already fondling the woman around. Sex made him more lethargic than he remembered, but at the same time, it was a lot more intense than he remembered as well. Maybe it was the mattress, or quite possibly it was the feeling of satiating his longing for the blue haired woman he had lied with before. He snatched his suit from beneath her.

She glanced up from what she was reading. "Hey, what happened to your tail?"

"Some Earthling cut it off with his sword," he said as he got dressed.

"That's right. I think I heard about that. Tanga still has her tail," she bragged, "I keep her away from the moon because Goku turned into a giant monkey whenever he used to see one."

"Why the hell would you keep her away from the moon when the great ape form releases a Saiyan's true potential?" he said before grabbing his scouter from the coffee table. However, as he fixed it, he could hear moments from Tanga's current fight.

"Uh, hello, I live in the city. I don't think the neighbors would like it if my daughter turned into a giant monkey. The only reason I didn't have the doctors cut it off was because it was part of her identity. And I think that's important. Don't tell me how to be a parent, Vegeta," she ranted. Although when she looked up, he had left the room. "Hey, where are you going?"

The prince clenched his fist and stared out into the sky from the outside of the cave. He watched the woman exit with her towel at hand. "Go back inside!" he ordered.

"I was talking to you!" she said and put her hand on her hip.

"It's that imp," he said before charging off into the sky.

Bulma was both anxious and angered by his terse response. By the grave flare in his eyes, she could tell something was wrong involving their daughter. By the urgent tone in his voice, she could tell he wouldn't allow the situation to escalate.

* * *

**hmfan24: Tanga gets in trouble a lot… which makes sense for her character. I hope you guys aren't sick of it. I must not be good at writing summaries because my view count is dropping, but so is the review rate so maybe it's more than just the summaries. I'm pretty sure a lot of the Abducted! readers weren't that pleased with the shift in genres. I just want to make sure things make sense. I've become insanely envious of the writers that rake in reviews, but I'll do my best to continue this regardless.  
**

**I was actually punctual!  
**

**Next Update: Friday, May 11th.**


	5. Burden

**Warning: Twist of angst in this chapter. =/**

**I've been corresponding with the talented FireStorm1991, author of _Crossroads_, _Foster Family_, and _Visions_. You should go check out some of those stories. My favorite is _Visions_.  
**

**Big announcement at the end.  
**

* * *

**Giving In is Giving Up  
**

**Chapter 5: Burden  
**

**_by hmfan24_  
**

* * *

Gohan and Tanga were no match against Dodoria. They were nowhere near the level needed to combat the threat. Even Krillin wouldn't have been able to stand against him. Each futile punch they happened by chance to land only drained more of their stamina. The team's hopelessness led them to believe that they were literally fighting to their deaths. The fight mostly belonged to Gohan who laid a few scratched on the pink monster while Tanga was struggling just to stand up straight. What made matters worse was that the boy had to pick up her slack.

The girl leaned into her comrade's shoulder and hiccuped. Namek spun fast…too fast for her. She couldn't have been too injured, but for some reason this fight was harder than anything she ever faced before. "G-Gohan… you idiot," she said, gulping down her sickness. This didn't feel like being poisoned. It felt much more debilitating. Her limbs were growing cold with odd sensations. She consciously gripped her ally's arms. "Just keep fighting…we can win if we want to…"

"Tanga!" he started before grabbing her limp body by the arm to dodge the ki blast headed their way. "Are you alright?" he yelled, despair shooting from his voice. He could see her eyes fade into a dull, grayish black. The girl before him had completely shed the courageous facade she put on, and was sinking fast into some kind of lull. This scene felt uncanny evoked the boy's memory of his father's violent death. His partner was nearing death.

The pending victor of the battle was irrelevant. Gohan needed to figure out a last-ditch attempt to get Tanga to safety, but there was no one else there to help him. His heart was throbbing along with his head. He was alone in this battle, and his teammate's life was in his hands. Slowly, he could feel his frustration spawn strength. He panted and looked around for an isolated area. Maybe he'd be able to lunge the girl to safety so that Dende could heal her.

He'd take care of himself.

"You're definitely Vegeta's offspring, aren't you, little girl? You're weak. Just like him," said Dodoria as he began a beam towards the two kids.

"Look out, guys!" yelled Dende from a distance.

Tanga turned to the beam, "I may be his kid, but I'm nothing like that bastard!" she yelled with the remainder of her strength. The glare of their adversary's anticipated attack caused a shooting pain in her temples. Her knees trembled. What a shameful way to die. She didn't even land a single punch, and now she was about to get killed without even catching a glimpse of Frieza. All because of some stupid sickness. She really was a disgrace. She deserved whatever was coming her way.

"Get out of the way!" said Gohan urgently. Mimicking the action of his tutor against Nappa, he intended to block the beam with his body and stood between Tanga and the impending threat. As swiftly as he could, he channeled his rage and his strength into ki energy projected towards the alien. This was it. He was confident that he held all his power in his hands, but doubtful that it'd be enough to protect them. But his anger left no room for anxiety. Dodoria would pay.

They were blinded by a flash as a ki wave hit them from the side and pushed them both far enough to evade the deadly threat. "You foolish brats, don't you realize that you both would've been dead had his attack reached you?" said a deep, condescending voice that stung Tanga's tender ears. "Kid, take the brat to her mother and call it a day," ordered Vegeta as he kicked them both out of the way. A strong wind gusted as he charged up his energy.

It felt cooler than it had before.

Dende then emerged from behind a rock and was ready to heal the ill girl. "Gohan, I'll take her," he opened his arms to them both. Tanga was incoherent and could only breathe heavily. She could barely stand up and had to lean on Gohan to get to the young, green kid's curative powers. However, as Dende put his glowing hands to her cold and sweaty body, he didn't realize any effects taking place. She hadn't gotten any better. In fact, she was continually getting worse. "I don't understand. My powers aren't working on her," he stopped then stared at his hands.

"What do you mean they're not working?" snapped Gohan from aggravation– not anger, but it sounded off coming from him. He took a deep breath, "You're supposed to heal her, right?"

"I don't know. So far I've only healed injuries like yours. But something else seems to be wrong with her. I don't think my powers are strong enough to heal her," he reported sorely.

Her father seemed to have no concern, Gohan noted. He didn't even bother glancing over at them. The only reason he probably jumped in was to see some blood shed. If the setting was different, the male hybrid probably would've gone off on Vegeta if anyone. He had no time for that, however, and immediately jetted off with his comrade secured in his arms.

"Hang in there, Tanga," said Gohan with his comrade in his arms. Besides her physical ailment, something was different about Tanga. She didn't have nearly as much assurance as she once did. The boy could only blame the difference in character on her father again. What had he done to her courage and fortitude that once raised Gohan's spirits in the midst of battle? There was no relying on her now in the state she was in. He had a feeling that she wouldn't come back the same way she left. There definitely had to be a liaison between the change and the time she spent with Vegeta. He felt his ki spike as he broke into breakneck speed in the direction of the cave.

When his feet reached the ground of the cave, he ran to Bulma's door. "Bulma!" he yelled as he pounded on the door.

The blue haired young woman opened the door. She frowned, "Gohan, are you guys alright? Tanga…," she took the young girl into her arms and hugged her tightly. The girl felt like she was on fire. "Oh, no, you have a fever… and you're breaking out…"

"She's not the same," said the young boy with tight fists. He shook, trying to hold back his tears. "Then she nearly collapsed. You gotta help her," he softly said before looking up at Bulma's relieved face.

"By the look of Vegeta's face, I would've thought she lost limbs or something," she said to herself with a sigh, "That man. So worked up over nothing."

Gohan took a step back from the girl's mother. She was eerily calm about the whole situation. "Huh?" he said, "But…Bulma, Vegeta is the one who abducted her. Don't you think…"

Bulma giggled, "Oh, don't worry about Tanga, Gohan. She'll be fine," she lifted the girl's unconscious body up into the air, "She must've eaten some dairy products and got an allergic reaction again. You see, at home, we use milk substitute since Tanga and dad have a really bad dairy allergy. It'll take a couple of days* before she regains strength and maybe consciousness, but she should be fine by then."

The kid couldn't believe her composure. She even mentioned earlier that she met up with Vegeta again and…was it not a big deal that he kidnapped her? He felt sweat slide down the back of his neck. Maybe he was the crazy one. Finally he took a deep breath to let go of the remnants of anger her clutched.

"I'm such a good mother! I even brought her medicine," she said as she stepped back inside to lightly drop Tanga on the bed. Looking over her shoulder, she could see that Gohan was still upset. He averted his eye contact from her and stared at the ground. "Hey, you want to lie down? You don't look too good either."

"No, I'm fine," he said dryly and about faced to the exit, "I'll go catch up with Krillin."

"Oh, right! Be sure not to tell Vegeta what's wrong with her. Please?"

He nodded then closed the door behind him as he left.

The Briefs woman scratched her head. "What's up with him?" she asked herself. Tanga stirred in her sleep. There were raised, red bumps all up her arms and neck. Dark circles hung beneath her eyes and the scentless chilled sweat glistened beneath the florescent lights. Her lips were parted, whispering labored breaths. Her eyes nearly revealed her cold, black eyes as she neared unconsciousness. Bulma smiled at her then kissed her searing head, "I'm glad you're back." The girl was just as beautiful as she remembered.

Tanga didn't wake up until after Goku arrived. She wasn't able to stand until the Ginyu force was defeated. By the time she was allowed out of the cave, Krillin and Gohan had recovered all the Dragon Balls.

Spending time with her mother was relatively annoying, but comforting all the same. Her mother combed and washed her hair every single night, and would comment on every stray hair that stuck out from her head. She was the most physically affectionate person that the girl ever had to deal with, with all her intrusive forehead kisses and smothering hugs. She was the only one who asked questions about her feelings concerning her father and her Saiyanism and her master, Piccolo – too many questions, and whenever Tanga disagreed with her, she'd snap. Her mood swings would be close to intolerable, but it never ceased to bemuse her when she got back to "normal" and suddenly wanted to be friendlier than ever.

For whatever reason, Tanga noted, her mother was especially defensive of Vegeta. This troubled the girl quite a bit, for while Vegeta downright denied any emotional attachment to her mother, Bulma declared a profoundly deep connection to the man that would stand the tests of time. Her argument about the difference was that he was too dense to realize it. Tanga knew that Bulma was one of the smartest women on Earth, but she didn't realize how _dense _the woman could be. This was all before she heard the story of how her parents met!

Bulma was styling Tanga's hair into a side pony tail. She noted how her hair had gotten to be a few shades darker and was more of a teal than a cyan. It had grown much thicker and snapped a few brushes. A simple ponytail was hard to pull off, but Bulma used all the hair stylist techniques she could. "Let's see, your father doesn't like to play hero, but he will if you're in a pinch. He won't let you get hurt."

How ridiculous of her to say. The girl crossed her arms, "Yeah, alright."

"I'm serious," giggled Bulma, "He went to go rescue you from your fight when he sensed you were in danger."

"He is a _bellicose _and_ pugnacious **antagonist**_," protested Tanga with words she had read in one of Gohan's favorite novels. She waved the thought away.

"Don't you like to fight, too?" asked the young mother.

The hybrid put a hand to her chest. "But I have self-control. Vegeta doesn't," she explained.

Bulma got a scrunchie and finally managed to grab a lock of hair to tie up. "That's because you're smart. You got your brains from me and your strength from him," Bulma bragged, "So you're perfect." No, this was not a good thing.

Tanga didn't want to have parents anymore. She didn't want any traces of their insanity in her blood, but she could feel it. She could feel it pulsating through her body by the second. By the looks of things, she'd end up crazier than they were. They were the reason for her present sadistic tendencies and short-tempers.

"But really," Bulma continued and got Tanga's jumpsuit together, "he cares about you and so does Gohan - Gohan was the one that brought you here."

The girl furrowed her brow. "Gohan?" she asked and then smirked, "Of course he did. Piccolo taught him protect me if I ever found myself in a vulnerable position."

Her mother sighed and helped her get dressed. "Are you sure you're ready to leave again?"

"I have to," replied Tanga like the warrior she was.

"You better come back safely!"

"Of course I will," said the girl, fully dressed as she turned her back to walk to the door. She didn't escape without a bone-crushing hug from her mother of course.

Bulma leaned on the door that her daughter left from. She let out another tearful sigh. "Vegeta, I'll kill you if she doesn't come back safely," she warned the absent man.

* * *

Tanga was zooming over the deserted blue plains of planet Namek. The sky with its bright green color never seemed to change. Already, she felt like she'd been in the same day for a year. Time seemed to pass slowly even though she was rapidly zipping through the sky. Not to mention, with the plateaus of varying heights and lakes at varying depths, the entire planet still felt the same. She took the time to stretch as she flew to meet up with Krillin and Gohan.

It was oh-so unfortunate that she'd "forgotten" her scouter back at the capsule house in the cave, but she could easily seek out the Earthlings' hidden ki signatures. Her feet reached the ground and she met eyes with Gohan and nodded a greeting. Krillin received no such courtesy.

They discussed their plan for the Dragon Balls, but, despite the monster Tanga knew Vegeta to be, she needed to sanction his wish to become immortal for the fight with Frieza. Fortunately, they were allotted three wishes, so they could revive their friends and beat Frieza with ease. After receiving an update from Krillin of all the events that transpired since she took ill, Tanga was even more confident with the news that Goku had arrived.

According to what she heard about the Ginyu battles, Goku just might be more powerful than Vegeta, but she shook that thought from her head. Vegeta beat Goku before. For the fool to be superior would be impossible. Blue blood was blue for a reason. Royalty must've been the reason for Tanga to always have finer fighting skills than Gohan. (At least in her mind.)

All was going according to plan: Vegeta was inside Frieza's ship, taking a nap, and Goku was slowly recovering from his battle with Captain Ginyu. The Dragon Balls were all gathered, and Dende was ready to dictate whatever they commanded. They had total freedom over what wishes would be made.

Tanga stayed silent, slowly shifting behind Gohan when the sky turned black. Porunga emerged. With its extravagant features and overwhelming size, Tanga nearly dropped to her knees. There wasn't much she felt she was afraid of, but apparently she had an intense fear of big, green dragons. "Ah…" she stammered, stepping back before falling to her bottom, "S-So this is the Dragon Ball Dragon thing. Um…"

Gohan checked behind his back, "Hey, Tanga, what's wrong?"

"I… uh, have to go to the bathroom," she lied until she realized it was true. No matter, she would come out and demand her wish once the first two were made. Dende didn't seem like he could put up a fight to protest. "So I'll be right back," she said, dashing down by an idle lake to take care of business.

Unbeknownst to her, Vegeta had emerged and was completely livid about the summoning. They may not have had much time, but he still needed time to decide what wish he'd make. From what he knew, that damn brat was still back at her base dying from whatever sickness caused her to lose against Dodoria earlier that week. But then, Frieza was the only survivor of his crew on the planet and would surely want to blow Namek up. And the two traitors had already made wishes.

"There were three wishes and you used two of them to bring that damn Namekian back?" he yelled, ready to kick something. With three wishes, he could've gotten everything he wanted. "What about your comrade – Tanga? You weaklings didn't even consider her?" he shouted at Gohan mostly who knew she had regained her full strength not too long ago. The boy still felt guilty for that moment, however. He felt guilty for keeping her health a secret from Vegeta who was visibly upset with his contorted features.

It was odd how he didn't initially complain about not getting his wish for immortality. But most of his diligence in finding the balls was due to his daugther's weak constitution. Although he hadn't once returned to check on her exact condition, it was fear of witnessing the girl's death that repelled him mostly.

"Um, actually," Gohan began. Regardless, in case Tanga's father actually did wish for her health, it'd be a waste of a wish they couldn't afford.

"Gohan…," nudged Krillin. If they let Vegeta get his wish, then that'd make trouble for Goku and everybody else. There'd be no stopping him.

His original, vengeful motivation of defeating Frieza continued to flicker away as he slowly felt the needs of the few outweigh the needs himself. And so, being Vegeta, he felt the need to irrationally compensate for the sudden feeling of weakness and do whatever symbolized power to him. He did his best to clear the faces of his whelp and his woman from his mind and ordered Dende to order the dragon to grant him immortality.

But before Dende could make the wish, the Balls died along with their maker, Guru. And Frieza was on his way. The sky lightening up became ominous to the four with the overlord on the horizon.

Tanga finally emerged. "Hey! What happened? You guys never made the 3rd wish?" she glanced at the scene, "What happened to the Dragon Balls?" She furrowed her eyebrows with a curious expression and studied the scene. The dragon was gone. They couldn't have made all three wishes that quickly. Or maybe, Vegeta had wished for immortality - that's why he held Dende.

"Guru must've…," started Dende.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" asked the prince in his booming voice, "Shouldn't you be back in that cave?" his confusion was expressed through anger as usual. The girl was on her death bed days prior, but now, here she was better than she ever was although her power level paled in comparison to the rest of them. He dropped the young Namekian.

Tanga stood stoic and strong. The silence blew the wind with a whistle. She could tell he was angry upon seeing her well. He must have been expecting her to die. "I'm stronger than you think, _sire_," she spat, addressing him formally, "You've underestimated me again," she pulled up her white glove and tightened her fist. "I don't need your healing. I can stand on my own!"

The Saiyan stomped over to her grip her collar, "You have no place here among us. Can't you feel it? Because you've been lying around in bed, you've missed opportunities to increase your strength. Everyone has surpassed you," he growled.

Everyone? How did she get left behind? She slowly surveyed the area by closing eyes and feeling their hidden ki. She could feel that they were having trouble hiding the amount they had. Tears dropped to the ground from her reddening eyes. "No way," she whispered, "I can still fight Frieza! I might not be able to defeat him, but…"

"You can't even lay a hand on me, so why would you think you could defeat Frieza? Your presence is useless here, so just go home, _princess,_" Vegeta said with a smirk.

"Let her go!" yelled Gohan as he stepped forward, "Let her go, Vegeta!"

"Gladly," he said, tossing the girl a few meters backwards.

The boy hybrid dashed for her to catch her before she touched the ground. He didn't understand. Just before, the man had shown concern for the girl, but now, here he was tossing her aside like she was nothing to him. "Don't do that to her! She's your daughter!" yelled Gohan, finally allowing his ki to overflow, "Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Gohan," warned Krillin, "I don't think you should be messing with him."

Tanga stared up at the boy that was holding her. He had completely surpassed her in strength in that short amount of time. For her to be weaker than her former inferior accomplice was sickening. She certainly didn't need _his_ help. She would rather die than accept whatever assistance he could offer. Before she could violently protest his help, however, he tightened his grip.

"The only reason me and Krillin are stronger now is because Guru helped us. And they only reason you're stronger is because you're older than her! But I bet she's twice as strong as you were at her age," he claimed.

"It doesn't matter!" replied Vegeta, his fierce glare failing to faze Gohan, "She's a burden now." Oddly enough, he was disconcerted by the boy – not by his strength, but by his words. As a child, he never had anyone stand up for him like the idiotic boy was doing now. He could imagine it'd feel quite uncomfortable, for his pride wouldn't allow anyone to protect him.

Tanga was no different in that respect. Despite Gohan's intentions, she was steadily building resentment for his actions. She tried to free herself, but to no avail she stayed in his arms.

"A burden?" Gohan shouted, "You're her father! Don't treat her like a burden! You might not be willing to defend her, but me and Krillin are! And I bet you would, too if we couldn't."

Hadn't he before? The prince recalled being the one to swoop into their fight with Dodoria. Regrettably, he wasn't nearly as monstrous as the brat perceived him to be. "Do what you will," he said and turned to the horizon.

Gohan slowly turned around to fly to an isolated plateau near the area. He stood his friend up and gave a small smile.

Almost immediately, the girl slapped him, "I'm not just some little girl!" she commanded, "I can speak up for myself! I can stand up to that man. What do you think I am, huh? I'm a royal Saiyan! No matter what your power level is, I'll **always** be stronger than you."

The boy said nothing. He knew Tanga would be embarrassed. He saw the slap coming, but allowed her to vent. He slowly watched each tear spill from her ego. Would it help to know that Gohan could see that Vegeta had some attachment to her? That probably wouldn't help her now. There was probably nothing he could say or do to comfort her at this point. He stared at the ground. "You know," he mumbled, "I still look up to you, and so I don't want to see him treat you like that. You're still braver than me. And your bravery is what makes you stronger than me," he finished with an unexpected glint in his eyes.

Tanga scoffed. As always, even physically assaulting her friend was futile in combating his absurd allegiance. She smirked. "I'm glad to see you know your place," she said. Her inferiority was due to circumstances outside her control. If Guru were still here, she'd probably get to be 10 times as strong as Gohan.

They both tensed up upon feeling Frieza's profuse power. The two nodded at each other to crawl towards the edge and down onto the current battlegrounds. They could see the purple and pink monster that was confronting the Saiyan Prince.

"Tanga," he whispered, "That's Frieza, isn't it ?" He gulped. "Gee, he's really strong."

"Of course he's strong if he wiped out the Saiyans!" Tanga said in a tone louder than a whisper. She felt somewhat content seeing someone with her blood avenging the entire Saiyan race. It made her feel like she'd be the heir to that power. However, her father was barely holding up. Frieza and Vegeta were going head-to-head, but the prince was steadily losing his zeal along with the battle. Tanga folded her arms tightly. "My idiot father won't win this battle…"

"Huh?" said the young and naïve Gohan, "But…" he started but didn't finish, for the combat gained heat.

Frieza separated himself and began charging up. His power level increased exponentially. Slowly, his features developed as he grew into a towering, horned beast.

The purple monster caught sight of the two children. "So I see you've made sure to make more monkeys, Vegeta. How repulsive. It seems my breeding restrictions weren't strict enough," stated the lord, staring at the rigid, brown tails.

Out of impulsive nature, Tanga stood, and although she could feel his power disconcert her confidence, she pointed a finger at him. "Frieza…" she thought, excluding fear from the contact between their eyes. The terror did not subside, however. Rather, it manifested through her inability to move. And so when Frieza charged at her, she failed to even notice him approaching until his left horn drove through her abdomen.

The thing's antler had impaled her. She felt the blood seep through the rest of her suit, and through the shooting pain, she could feel the cold air blow into the gash. Oddly, it was her head that hurt the most. She didn't wake up from the shock until she was on the ground in a quiet area with the young Namekian above her.

"Tanga, you're okay!" cheered Dende. He smiled widely with his hands still on the girl.

The blue haired girl wiped the sticky blood on a nearby patch of grass. "Thanks," she muttered, and tried to look around him to see the battleground, but could only feel the various energy levels.

"Gohan is defending your honor," he exclaimed and then he explained how Gohan almost immediately went berserk on the overlord after witnessing the stabbing, and managed to get him to the ground.

Tanga wanted to ask how Vegeta reacted, but refrained. He had already told her to leave. She had become a burden just as he predicted, but she wouldn't be anymore! She revved up her energy to a new height, and felt with awe how much her power had grown. "You feel this, Namekian? This is the power of a true Saiyan!" she declared with a grin.

Sweat slid down the back of his neck and he nervously smiled. "Um, yeah, but I don't think you should go straight back into battle," he urged, "Shouldn't you rest a little?"

The Princess of All Saiyans took his concern as an insult. She was well aware that her power still did not match Gohan's level yet – wait. Looking into space, she could tell the boy was losing energy quickly. She rose up into the sky and looked down at the battle. Gohan was pinned beneath the foot of Frieza. He would be crushed.

For reasons unknown to her, she felt pure rage in seeing her comrade in that position. If not for the slightest bit of rationality, she would've blown the entire planet up. As she dashed into the battle with new found agility, she sent a kick to the overlord's abdomen. It was enough to get him to the ground once again and freed Gohan. The Son boy stood up and hugged her again, "Tanga, I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Of course I am," she stood proudly.

Krillin jumped up, "All right, Tanga! I knew you'd pull through!" He charged up his signature disc of energy. "I'll get him," he said as he lunged the Destructo Disc at the monster's tail who then chased after him into the distance.

Gohan clenched his fists and looked in the direction of Krillin. He was back in the moment. "I wish my dad would just wake up," he mumbled knowing Tanga was close enough to hear her.

Suddenly Vegeta appeared before them. He picked Tanga up by the tail and took off into the sky.

"Leave me alone, you stupid old man!" she protested, watching Gohan shrink from her perspective. Her short legs couldn't reach any part of the man.

Lifting her tail so that they made eye contact, Vegeta stared her down."You're going back to Earth. That's the 3rd time you've almost lost your life. This is ridiculous!" he nagged.

Tanga tried her best to break his grimace with her own glare. She was tired of being called a burden, but he was right. "But…what about the zenkai? Isn't that a good thing that I keep on dying?"

The girl was right, but there was something about watching his daughter nearly escape from death repeatedly. It seemingly penetrated his focus, and averted his cause to seeing her recover. There was no comfortable way to say it, however. He was beginning to realize that he cared for her. His second mind was to drop her and leave the planet to save himself, but that didn't resonate well either. Part of him was in this girl, after all. The other part of the girl was his lover who also currently resided on the planet.

With events transpiring the way they were, there was an increasing probability that none of them would make it away alive. Frieza had the upper hand in the current battle. "Frieza may be unbeatable…" he muttered. His plan was to flee before the monster got any more powerful.

"What?" she shouted. Tanga then kicked his unguarded chin.

Vegeta spit out a few drops of blood. He was in disbelief at what the child managed to pull off.

"No way!" she yelled from frustration. "I thought you were fearless, but you already want to leave just because Frieza can transform. If you're really a prince, then how could you abandon the Saiyans like that?" she cried. She needed to see that there was a respectable source of her power coupled with unflappable vigilance in the face of danger. She felt a need to see this in her father, if anyone. "I may not be able to defeat him, but you're the most powerful one on our side, right? You have to be…because if you're not then that means I'm weak, too," she finished softly.

The Prince was reminded of his recent, naïve dreams to be the strongest, but he was beginning to grow doubtful after witnessing Goku's success in defeating the Ginyu Force nearly single handedly. It took quite a while before Vegeta was able to step back into the fight and defeat Jeice.

Looking into the eyes of his daughter, he couldn't persist in running away like he had planned. "I'm staying, but that doesn't mean you should stay."

"Wait," she stopped and narrowed her eyes. Her heart sank after seeing traces of concern in the man's cold eyes. She'd seen it before in her mother's, but it felt odd seeing her father get worked up over her safety. "Why not just let me get in the way? If I get killed, then I won't be in the way anymore, right?" she asked before studying his reaction intensely.

Vegeta stared at her. He didn't want to say what he knew he felt about the suggested scenario. The imagery that developed in his mind surpassed the gruesome themes of his worst nightmares. His flesh, soaking in her blood on the ground before Frieza blinded his thoughts for that moment. Perhaps it was because the assailant was Frieza, or maybe because the body could have easily been his own former child equivalent. Nonetheless, the picture was haunting. Before he could reply, Krillin came back, out of breath.

Gohan met up with them as well. As Krillin explained what had happened between him and Frieza, the male hybrid studied Tanga. Sure she was well, but by the look of her rigid tail, he could tell she was thinking over something. But what? He was getting quite sick of Vegeta torturing the courage from her, and so, naturally, he glared at him. Apparently he hadn't made his order to stop mistreating her clear to him, and he probably wouldn't be able to at that point either.

The boy had already realized that the prince cared for his daughter, but that didn't mean Tanga had to suffer because of it.

Frieza was back suddenly. "Enough with your foolish games, it's time for me to annihilate you all," he claimed.

Vegeta looked at the sky and saw it as the canvas for their last resort. He looked at Gohan and then looked at his daughter. Of course it was easier for whelps to grow their tails – even half-breeds apparently. Maybe with an exponential growth of power, they'd be able to hold Frieza off.

He shot a light into the big, green sky.

**hmfan24: What do you guys think about Gohan and Tanga's friendship. Is Tanga too mean?**

**Big Announcement: lilpumpkingirl is helping me revamp _Abducted_! and _Giving In is Giving Up_. I plan on rewriting them both already, and I'll post it as a new story. So this will be on hiatus as I try to edit the two stories into one.  
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**Also: I realized that I've gotten my own title wrong several times... which means that I'm kind of a dumbass.  
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	6. Reunion

**Big Announcement  
**

** I'm writing a**** revision, so this story will probably be discontinued since my writing level has increased to over 9,000 and I'll post the revision as a new story. =( Good news is, the revision will be the same story but 10 times as good and 10 times as long! And it will include both _Abducted!_ and_ Giving In is Giving Up. _  
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**Warning: This is NOT the last chapter of the series. Keep your eyes peeled for the re-write.  
**

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**Giving Up is Giving In  
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**Chapter 6: Reunion  
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**_by hmfan24_  
**

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"You know, this is the first time we've all been together at the same time," Bulma said as she crossed her arms and frowned, "You guys have to quit abandoning me! I'm sick of it! First it's Vegeta sending me back to Earth – pregnant, then it's my daughter going off to train with some slug man," she yelled in an area on Earth full of Namekians. Sweat dropped from the back of their heads. The blue head continued, "Then you **both** leave me again and I don't see you until I get to Namek! Don't think you'll be able to get away with it next time," she crossed her arms and sighed.

Vegeta was trying his best not to listen from where he was sitting, but the woman's voice was too loud and high-pitched to ignore. Tanga, on the other hand, was well skilled at droning out her mothers' lectures. The two warriors made eye contact for a moment, but then turned away.

Tanga stood up and looked over to Gohan and Piccolo. She looked back at her mother and attempted to walk slowly in the opposite direction.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going? Stay here!" Bulma got her daughter in a Nelson hold, preventing her from moving.

The young blue head didn't struggle, "I'm going to talk to Piccolo. There's no way I'm staying here with that jerk," she protested.

"That jerk is your father! Don't you think you should try to have a conversation with all of us so we can be a family?" said Bulma. She wasn't going to give up on her dream of having a semi-decent family. Vegeta had actually returned, and he didn't seem like he was going anywhere. Now that Frieza was finally defeated, the entire universe was peaceful.

The prince crossed his arms and cleared his throat. "Let the brat go, woman. You both are giving me a headache," he ordered.

"I have a name," she barked and dropped the girl to stomp over to her lover. She looked back to her daughter. "Fine, go ahead and play with Gohan and Piccolo, but you will come back!"

Tanga was already walking away and picking at her aching ear. "Yeah, yeah," she said.

Bulma plopped down on Vegeta's lap without saying anything. He felt warmer than he did before he died. At least he came back from death, or else… Tears slid down her pale face. She leaned on his shoulder.

"What?" asked the Saiyan. He had enjoyed the physical contact, but was bemused by her sobs.

She looked up at him with puffy red eyes. "You'll just laugh at me or do whatever you do when I get all mushy like this," she mumbled.

"It seems to work," he said with a smirk. His hand slid up her side as his lips met hers. Peace wasn't as bad as he imagined it to be. For the first time in his life, he wasn't running from anything anymore. He couldn't allow himself to become soft with Kakarot out of his league, but in this still moment, he admitted life felt somewhat comfortable.

His body was quite virile as he entered a state of ecstasy with the woman despite the broad daylight setting. If they had waited a second later, Bulma may have forgotten where they were. "Hey, no, can we not do this here?" she said in a low, weak voice.

Vegeta huffed, "I don't see how location is relevant seeing as though within a matter of minutes, you'll be screaming my name."

One the other side of the field, Tanga was standing among her mentor and partner. "Man, I wanted to see you fight, Piccolo," she complained with her arms crossed, "you were probably so cool, right, Gohan?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I don't even remember passing out. It just doesn't add up," said Gohan, rubbing his tailless bottom. "And my tail's gone, too."

Piccolo was told not to explain what exactly had happened on Namek to his pupils, so he held his tongue.

"For some reason I have a feeling it won't grow back this time," she mimicked her partner with a slight scowl.

She was disappointed that it wasn't her father who had defeated Frieza. The entire Namek experience was a disappointment, but at least most of everyone she knew made it out alive. Yes, she was even happy that Vegeta was safe and sound on Earth now. After seeing him so eager to get her back to Earth, she had developed a newfound sense of respect for the man. He even gave his life to avenge their race.

Gohan's eyes grew wide as he quickly averted his attention from whatever caught his eye. His face turned a deep shade of red and he turned to face the opposite direction.

"What is it, Gohan?" she asked, puzzled. However, upon glancing over her shoulder, she saw her mother being ravaged by the man she was to call her father. But she was at a stalemate. If she fired anything in that direction, she'd fry her mother as well. "Vegetaaa!" she cried, flying towards the two.

Bulma shrieked and held her lover closer. She'd never seen such a look in her daughter's eyes. It wasn't like they were doing anything wrong. All her clothes were on. Vegeta may have occasionally slipped his hand to second base if anything. "What's your problem, Tanga?"

Tanga stood, her knees were shaking. What in the world were the two doing in such a position? "I'm warning you, Vegeta. I may not be able to overpower you, but I'll find a way if you don't get off of her right now!"

Vegeta let out a growl. He was obviously the one with his back against the tree – not that he expected his daughter to know that meant he was being dominated. Lightly, he pushed Bulma aside. "What is it, you brat?"

The girl stomped her foot a few times. "You know what I mean! I thought you said Bulma was ugly and that she was crazy and that you didn't love her and so why are you kissing her?"

Bulma gave Vegeta a distasteful look and put her hand on her hip. "Don't call her a brat! And, Tanga, don't call me 'Bulma.'" she commanded. Then she looked at Tanga and let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Tanga," she apologized, "I'm just really happy to see him and you, too," she planted a kiss on the girl's forehead.

"But I bet he's not happy to see you," she mumbled and looked off to the side, "Why waste your time?"

"I never said she wasn't amusing," he muttered and began to walk away.

For whatever reason, that made her mother blush intensely as she let out a giggle. Tanga took a step back in utter horror. Her mom never made that face before. Out of the confusion, she groaned, "Bulma, why are you looking at him like that?"

Vegeta checked over his shoulder to see what the girl was talking about, but by that time, Bulma had already covered her face. He smirked. So the woman got a ride out of his remark. He had thought, from her past examples of sensitivity, that she would be more offended about his rumored opinions of her than anything. Although, now it seemed as though the blue-haired genius had managed to easily crack his cold façade and interpret his words with ease.

It wouldn't truly take a genius to figure out the prince was attracted to the Earth woman. Any time his hands weren't roaming her body, they were itching to. Bulma got more than a ride from any trace of interest in his eyes, so when he said – with a double negative – that she was amusing, she was ecstatic. She was slowly beginning to learn that it'd take patience to accept his love. That was fine with her as long as it meant he'd never abandon her for 5 years again.

Yes, it was clear to her already that he had fallen in love with her captivating charm, brainwashing beauty, and maddening wit. He didn't help his case by continually denying it either. Apparently the warrior was not equipped with the skills of concealing such attraction. She could even see in that present moment that his glance revealed more than a subtle interest but a taboo hunger for her and only her and always her. Her heart sank and she let out another giggle which finally averted his attention.

"Bulma!" Tanga yelled, shaking her mother, "Stop it," she whined.

Bulma was probably the only being in the universe that would ever be able to understand his language. She put her hand to her heart and took a few steps to catch up to his back. "Tanga, I hope you learn to love your father as much I love him," she softly said, nuzzling into her lover as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

The Saiyan bowed his head upon her sudden contact. "W-Woman, what are you doing?" he stuttered. Here she was, showing off her insanity by fabricating their primal, mutual attraction into some gut-wrenching, stupefying, foolish condition referred to as 'love'. His face was flushed.

"You're going to live with me, too, right?" she asked excitedly, giving warmth to their contact by rubbing her cheek against his back, "It's not like you have anywhere else to go or any way to get there, right?"

Tanga let go of her mother. She should've shot Vegeta when she had the chance! "No way!" she said as she ran in front of the two to block the path, "He's not going anywhere near our house!"

Vegeta picked the woman who was formerly holding him up and took to the skies with her. "Stay out of trouble. I'll be seeing you…later on," he said with a smirk before charging off.

"I'll see you later," shouted the woman. "I love you, honey!"

The girl looked up at the couple from the ground. There was no stopping them even if she was able to catch up. For whatever reason, her mother was consenting to being handled by the alien man. She sighed and lied back onto the grass.

Soon, Son Gohan came to block the sun from her eyes. He loomed over her with a small smile. "You know, it's not that bad. Your mom seems happy and your dad seems calm now, right? It's a good thing," he commented then plopped down next to his ally.

The Briefs girl grunted, "Shut up." This was the end of the world.

Luckily, the boy hadn't taken her command to heart. "Maybe you could all be happy now," he continued, "since you all care about each other." This was the hybrid that was once too frail and fragile to stand on his own two feet, but here he was now, offering emotional support to his comrade. He was more cheerful with his two friends Dende and Tanga by his side. He was less lonely.

"Leave me here to die."

Gohan laughed, "Tanga, come on, now we have more time to get as strong as we want. We're not waiting on the Saiyans or the Ginyu Force or Frieza." He was eager to get stronger ever since it turned into a tactic to bond with his fellow half-breed. Plus, it made Piccolo and his father proud. His mother was another story… but Chi-Chi didn't like anything fun.

"We're not 'waiting' on anything," she paraphrased. "Well, you're waiting on your dad." She sat up with a smirk. "What makes you think I want to train with you anyway?" she asked with one eyebrow higher than the other.

"Um," his tone dropped along with his head. Maybe he was jumping the gun. 'Friends' might not have been the right term yet. He picked at the grass that he sat on and made a quick frown, "Never mind."

Tanga frowned as well. How weird. Why did he seem sad about not training with her? It wasn't like they had fun together although it was more comfortable than training with her father or with Piccolo. But would they really make any progress? Training shouldn't be comfortable. If training was ever comfortable then they were doing something wrong. But then, the longer she stared at his pathetic face, the more she wanted to punch it. "Fine," she muttered before folding her arms behind her head then reclining back into the grass. The boy's disposition immediately lit up. She shielded her eyes by running her fingers through her hair.

The hybrid tightened his fists. "You mean it?" he asked with eager eyes. "Yeah! Maybe Piccolo will help us."

"Hm," she got to her feet and dashed over to her master with Gohan.

The strongest Namekian couldn't stifle his smirk as he saw them rush to him like lambs. "I need to get some training done on my own," he said before they even opened their mouths. Of course, with his long ears, he was able to hear their entire conversation.

Piccolo was relieved that his students had just barely survived the battle they had against Frieza. Out of nowhere Vegeta took it upon himself to shoot a false moon into the sky, triggering the kids' Great Ape form. Tanga and Gohan together had enough power to rival the Namek's own strength. The idea wasn't completely faltered, but Frieza ascended to his final form and managed.

It was odd especially since he had watched the two children change into the warriors they now were. He felt...proud to have nurtured such strength.

* * *

_1 year ago_

Piccolo looked down, peeved at the least. He lost balance for a moment before he was able to assess who exactly was holding him down. It was a female human with dark blue hair that blocked her face, but as they flew, the wind revealed her obsidian eyes filled with an endless amount of determination. Piccolo sighed. They finally reached a distant wasteland. He wasn't too experienced with humans, but he was certain he did not tell them he was a baby-sitter.

"What do you want, little girl?" Piccolo smirked. He had no problem with getting rid of the small pest. There were better things to do with his time. Gohan had managed to injure Raditz with his rageful headbutt after having no training. His power, if nurtured, could be magnificent against the Saiyans. This girl, on the otherhand, was a waste of his time.

"Train me! If you train Gohan, you gotta train me, too."

Hadn't she said that already? "This isn't a game," he said, tossing Gohan into a nearby lake.

Tanga got into a fighting stance, "What? Is it because I'm a girl?"

Piccolo's eye twitched. Coming from a genderless species, he had no sexism in him - although he hadn't known any females that could put up a fair fight, "No, it's because we don't have time to play around! The Saiyans are on their way here and..." His eyes zoned in on the girl's tail. So she was a Saiyan as well.

"I can fight," she said with deliberation in her heart. Glancing over her shoulder, she could see the disgraceful Saiyan boy flailing his arms in the water. "I'm a lot stronger than he is!"

"Daddy!" screamed Gohan and ran towards Tanga who he guessed to be an ally since her mom was a friend of his dad's. He cowered behind her, shuddering enough to shake the ground. That man was a different story; he even looked evil with his disdain beaming down at both of them. They were going to die. It was inevitable.

"Listen, both of you," Piccolo crossed his arms, "Goku was killed in the battle against the guy who kidnapped you, Gohan... Gohan, dammit, stop crying!" he yelled over the boy's desperate wails. "You are going to learn how to fight. Goku and I barely managed to defeat the Saiyans will be more coming - a lot stronger than they were. We don't have time to play around; we have to prepare."

Tanga smirked. The green man was finally referring to her as well. She rose a finger at Gohan behind her, "It looks like you're going to have a training partner, Gohan."

He blinked. His father was dead. And he was far away from home for the first time in his life. Anguish cloaked his face as he bellowed over in stress. "Tanga was right. I don't have any power," he whispered, having lost all hope. Piccolo neared the poor kid and picked him up by the collar, "No, Piccolo! Put me down! Please! I don't want to see my true power!" Suddenly he was lunged towards a plateau nearby. Tears flew in the opposite direction fast enough to wet his ankle. At some point, he realized that even if Piccolo did help him, he was going too fast for him to catch him. So then his instinct came in. Either he would be destroyed or the mountain would. A jolt ran through his body. Light suddenly surrounded him and he demolished the rock to gravel without a scratch himself.

"That's power," Piccolo said smugly, knowing he made the right decision, but almost astonished at how right he'd actually been. "Now, kid, you want to try?" He felt a surge of thrill from throwing human hybrids with superhuman strength.

That was power, wasn't it? That had been the type of power even she had been afraid of. She saw her knees tremble for the first time before she was able to consciously feel the fear, however, but managed to wipe the fear from her face and look back up at the green man, "I'm ready, Piccolo."

As odd as it was, the former terrorist had trouble acting out his plan on the girl. He feared any extensive attack may kill any and all potential he could ever harness from her to use against the future threat. Humans, from what he's seen, could trigger their power through emotional distress, however. The girl seemed like she'd respond better with anger than with fear. Picking her up by the collar, he hesitantly lifted her up over the water.

"Hah, water doesn't scare me, Green Man!" retorted Tanga.

Green Man? "Don't. Die." Piccolo felt a vein in his forehead twitch as he threw the girl into the water and put his foot on her back. He was enjoying this a lot more than he should have. Gohan came over to his side and stared at his foot. "Take that jacket off."

"What are you doing to Tanga?" asked Gohan, sympathetically.. This seemed worse than being thrown at a rock somehow. He took off his yellow jacket and hat then stared at the Dragon Ball on top. There were bubbles forming on the surface on the lake now that attracted his curiousity. He looked over the edge of the lake side, "Um...Mr. Piccolo..."

"What!" Piccolo glared back, causing Gohan to tumble backwards, "I know what I'm doing!" He put his foot down further into the ground, feeling her squirming weaken, and he contemplated whether or not the girl would come up alive until he felt it. "Get back, Gohan."

Fight or flight and Tanga chose fight. A huge burst of her ki energy led to the demise of the small, lake. She blasted a hole right below her, deep enough to drain the entire thing. Piccolo picked her up before she dropped down into it. "Wh-What was that? That wasn't fair! You were actually trying to kill me," she accused, flailing in his hand.

"Shut up," he tosses her off to the side. So the girl had a similar power in her as well. These Saiyan children may just be able to defeat him someday. Not even Goku had this kind of power when they first met, so these children would surely surpass him by his age. However, all that was irrelevant. They had bigger worries on their hands now. He looked up to the sky and sighed. Only one year and they had to at least get to his level in power.

Gohan and Tanga sat down, trying to catch up with what was happening. "Are you okay?" asked the Son boy, watching Tanga gasp for air. He looked up at Piccolo against his better judgement, "Hey, um, what do we do now?" he asked anxiously - knowing he wouldn't like what was to come.

Piccolo stared down, with a twisted grin, "You two are going to have to survive on your own for 6 months before I train you."

"What?" asked the duo with contrasting inflictions.

The frail-feeling boy shook his head, "How am I supposed to take care of myself?" Every time he left the house, he'd be with his father. Never was he alone in the wilderness. He looked around. This place didn't look as dark and scary as the forest did, but there probably wasn't any food since there wasn't any greenery. Unless, he gulped, he hunted the animals. Looking at his comrade, Gohan studied her face for her feelings. She didn't seemed too bothered. Maybe she was a lot more experienced even though they were the same age.

The city girl looked around skeptically at where she had followed them to. She ran her fingers through her wet her. This wasn't anything like the confinements of Capsule Corp. There weren't any people for miles. "I..." she said, weakly at first, "What do you mean you won't train us until you leave us alone? You...you just said that we don't have any time and here you are wasting it by doing nothing for 6 months!"

"Look, if you learn how to live on your own, you'll be a stronger fighter - both and body and in mind,"

"I'm afraid," said Gohan.

Tanga scoffed and shook her hair, getting everyone around her wet.

"Believe me, you'll laugh at your fears when you find out who you really are," Piccolo turns his back on them, "Well, I have to begin my own training. Six months." He said then flew off into the sky, taking to air quickly so that he wouldn't bring along any passengers this time. Though the girl seemed confident, he could hear her voice clearly shake. And that boy, why he might just end up succumbing to his fears all together. Another scenario popped up in his mind - they could try to kill each other in the end. Maybe he should've separated the two.

The wind made a high pitched whisper that drowned out the children's cries for attention as they chased the direction that the abductor had left. Tanga stopped, coughing up the remainder of the water in her lungs. She then caught the tail of the long-haired boy who immediately planted his feet in the ground. "Gohan."

"That hurts!" he looked over his shoulder, feeling a bit of anger surge for his evenly matched ally, but he dismissed it as pain. "Please let go," he said, sternly yet politely.

The girl smirked, raising her own tail to view, "We're going to be alone for a while, and I'm from the West City, so I really don't know lots about weather and hunting and stuff like that even though I'm smart." She neared him, placing a firm hand on his shoulder, "Where are you from?"

As much as Gohan had wished, her atmosphere wasn't exactly friendly. "The forest," he said, not knowing which way to point. He smiled sheepishly, "Um, you're Tanga, right?" His shoulder felt heavy.

Hah, jackpot! "Let's go get something to eat then!" she grinned, getting close to his face. She probably couldn't hurt this kid as easily as the rest, so there was no need to hold back her strength. In fact, he might be able to hurt her - although she laughed at the thought. It'd take a stroke of supernatural luck for her to be beaten by a loser like him. Letting go of his shoulder, she went back to sit on a rock, taking great care to be at a position where she could look down on him.

"Um, but this place isn't anything like the forest. It's just dirt and rocks...I don't know where to find food," he said, looking around at the wasteland. There weren't even little shrubs. He had seen pictures of places like this in the textbooks his mother made him study. Then he sulked. His mother was miles and miles away. He might not ever see her again. At least he wasn't completely alone.

"Ahhhhhh!" shrieked Tanga.

Gohan hesitantly turned around, expecting to see some giant lion, but only saw a praying mantis on the girl's leg. It was just a little bug though. Regardless, he rushed to her side to get it off safely. "There you go, Mr. Bug," he giggled as he watched it crawl away.

Tanga, quite embarrassed from her weakness being revealed, glared at her comrade, "Hey, don't do that again!"

"Do what?"

She couldn't say anything since he really didn't do anything wrong. But of course, she found something to say eventually, "I don't need you to help me. I need to find some food."

"I told you, Tanga, I don't know where any food is!" he yelled out of annoyance. Then he covered his mouth. He'd never raised his voice like that only person in his family who yelled was his mom... Maybe it was because this girl was...annoying. "I'm sorry," he looked up at her, afraid of what she might do next.

* * *

_Present Day_

Vegeta had to recapture his breath after collapsing onto the bed. His hands still tightly clutched the moist silk sheets. They felt more compatible than ever at that moment. There was no doubt that this weak Earth woman was the best lover he had and could possibly have. Her aroused blue eyes leered down at him and caused only more heat to rise between them. With two fingers, he brought her chin forward into another zealous kiss just to remind her how she belonged to him.

It was odd how he managed to find such a match light years away from his birthplace. Biologically, the scenario was flippant and damn near impossible, yet here she was. The blasted woman had somehow enraptured his senses to be aroused by more than just her aesthetic appeal. Her audacity to try him was more than enough to draw his interest.

Now, with the freedom from Frieza, he had the ability to walk into her web as often as he'd liked for as long as he wished. For how long, however? He was certain there'd be no one else that could come close in comparison. How certain?

Saiyans mated for life, and if this woman were truly his mate then there was no room for doubt. Her scent in close proximity was enough to drown out his sound sense of control. They already had a whelp, after all. They had already "mated". But something about their union was still illegitimate.

The palms of her hands pressed down onto his bare chest as she continuously drank in his kiss. Although she was caught up in the rapture, she suddenly had an odd feeling that she was being stared up. Lo and behold, as she opened her eyes, she stared right into the eyes of her lover. Pulling away, she let out a sigh, "What now?"

He scowled, "Nothing," he then tried to lightly pull her back down until he felt her resistance. The woman had this doubtful look on her face as if she wouldn't continue unless he did or said something. "I said 'nothing'. Do you prefer that I close my eyes?"

"You're thinking about something."

Without words, he tried to block the thought from his mind. He noticed that she had a tendency to hone in on such weaknesses. To express interest in a social binding with someone was definitely a weakness.

"What is it, Vegeta?"

"I want to have sex again," he told an alternate truth. Bulma threw a shoe at him which he promptly caught.

"Don't lie to me," she commanded. She actually was putting her clothes back on.

He sent a glare to her back. "Once is not enough for me," he smirked once he managed to get her attention, "you should've been able to figure that out by now."

She frowned and put her hand to her hip, dressed in a fresh pair of pink panties. "Well that's just too bad, isn't it?" she sarcastically said. "I'm going to go see if all my guests have gotten here yet." Twirling around, she was being held back from walking through the door.

Vegeta scowled again, and searched the radius for the damned Namekians' ki energies. "They're not anywhere close," he clarified, "Now come back to bed with me, woman."

The bluehead let out a sigh and sat on the edge of the soft bed. She could feel how his dense weight sunk the center of the mattress. His grip on her wrist was strong, yet not tight. The way his fingers still left a gap around her must have meant treating her delicately. But she couldn't help having her doubts. "You know, you should at least try wearing protection next time," she said.

The prince stayed silent. Protection as in the contraception that the woman insisted he wear earlier? That would be a good idea, seeing as though he couldn't handle another tenacious doppelganger. Another whelp would only mean something else he'd have to keep from harm.

She continued with her head hung low, "Raising Tanga alone has been really difficult, so I decided that I don't want to have any more kids." With her free hand, she wiped below her eyes, "You probably have tons of kids, right?"

"Tanga is my only offspring," he corrected her.

Bulma scoffed, feeling some irritation grow within her, "Yeah, right. Haven't you had hundreds of women in your bed before? Surely some of them got pregnant like me. Maybe all of them since you didn't even think to wear anything!" she shouted, feeling her throat grow tense.

The Saiyan tossed the cumbersome pillow that was below his head to the other side of the room, and lied on his side to face away from the woman. He let go of her. "I haven't had anything close to that number. We had a guaranteed contraceptive that we were required to use at the base, but I obviously opted not to use it on you."

She made a puzzled face. "What? So you _wanted_ to get me pregnant?"

"It didn't cross my mind."

"Oh come on!" she shouted, throwing her arms up. She didn't necessarily regret getting pregnant, but it was just annoying that he felt like he had the freedom to alter her life like he had and not give it a second thought.

"Look, woman, I was required to execute you, but I chose to send you back to your home planet for reasons I can't remember. Now, will you shut up about it?"

It was Bulma's turn to be silent. She could've died? And according to her lover, he had spared her. That was almost… a romantic gesture. Did he wish for them to meet again? Maybe that's why he was lying next to her at that very moment. After the defeat of his overlord, he was free to do so. In a twisted way, he was her prince charming.

As she lied down next to him, she let her tense body melt beside his warmth. She planted a soft kiss on his shoulder and smiled as she watched him shiver. Running her fingers through his hair, she discovered that it had few tangles and was actually quite soft. He adjusted his head as she continued. She suddenly wanted to touch him more to test how he'd react.

The flame-haired man glared over his shoulder. "What?" he spat, "You're pestering me."

"No, I'm not. You like it. I can tell because of the way you tremble. You're like a dead giveaway," she bragged.

"You're pestering me because I know your fun will not lead to anything."

"Oh, Vegeta," she hugged him tightly, "you don't have any idea where this might lead to." She said in her teasing tone.

Vegeta turned around in bed to slide his arms around her waist. Looking at her aroused pink face framed by her tousled cyan hair, he nearly lost any inhibition from ravaging her like he'd done moments before. However, he seemed to have grown weak and could only marvel at the piece of delicate artwork that lied against him – perfectly. She was finally his.

His lover gripped the sheets and covered them both as she continued to taunt his self-control by tracing the creases of his muscles all the way down his leg. Suddenly, however, he tensed up and turned away. He pulled up his suit that was still around his ankles and covered himself. Then he made his way to the corner of the room.

Now Bulma was more offended than agitated. The man wouldn't even make eye contact with her. "What? You want me to stop?" she asked with her brows furrowed.

The door slammed open.

"Tanga!" shouted Bulma and pulled the sheets up around her.

The couple's daughter stood in the doorway. She narrowed her eyes at the fully clothed Vegeta who was facing the window with his arms crossed. Behind her, stood Gohan, faced away from the bedroom. "Bulma, I need food and my grandmother went to go pick the Namekians up. Oh yeah and Gohan's here because he wanted to hide from his mom or something."

The blue haired woman didn't say anything, but covered her face with the blankets. The room suddenly got a lot hotter. If she were standing, she'd lose her footing in the spinning room. Maybe she was making a big deal out of nothing. It was like her daughter didn't even notice the embarrassing situation. Poor Gohan did. "Um," she stammered.

"Go get your own food," commanded Vegeta in a sinister tone. "Your mother is very tired." He smirked without looking back.

Tanga charged at the man. "This has nothing to do with you!" she said, throwing her hand back to point towards Bulma, "She was fine an hour ago." She paused, "Unless you did something to her." Turning around, she now stared at her mother, "What did he do to you?"

Gohan stepped in the room, covering his eyes to tap Tanga on the shoulders. "Let's just go, Tanga," he said weakly, yet his grip was firm. He could sense the tension in the room, and from what he saw, Bulma probably didn't have a lot of clothes on underneath the blanket.

"What? No way! I want to know what's going on!" she flamed. Her face was just as red as Bulma's at this point.

The prince gave the girl a dry look. "Tanga, listen to your partner," Vegeta advised. "Your mother has been concerned about you since Namek." His lover had had a long 24 hours. He remembered seeing her anxious face grow faint after seeing him revived, yet she still had enough energy to run up to him and give him a tearful hug. Perhaps it was the lighting of the Earth's bright sun, but the sight of anguish melting off her face was amusing to say the least.

Now the young, female half-breed was slightly offended by Bulma's delayed response. Hadn't she missed her daughter? Vegeta definitely had something to do with this.

Letting out a sigh, the Son boy and all his strength simply picked Tanga up and carried her belly up over his head. "Sorry, Vegeta! Sorry, Miss Bulma! We'll just go to my house and eat there," he said and rushed out the door.

Tanga didn't have the strength to resist. She was immediately reminded just how much stronger Gohan was than her. The damned boy was taking advantage of that fact. "Hey!" she grunted, but couldn't even move, "What do you think you're doing?" By ki manipulation, she flew around the Capsule Corp lobby with Gohan trying to gripping onto her. She was nearly able to gravitate back towards her house's door, but Gohan was managed to get out the automatic entrance.

"Tanga! They didn't want us in there. Let's just get to my house…I'm sure my mom made something good," he strained his words. In one of the biology textbooks his mom had bought him, he'd learned about the reproductive system of humans and figured it was similar to Saiyan. This was too much information for the young, young boy, and whenever he asked his mom about how exactly sperm got to the egg, she'd treat it like a "very bad thing". And so he figured that Vegeta and Bulma were doing that very bad thing.

Back in Bulma's bedroom, Vegeta was enjoying the sight of the woman's humility.

"I can't believe that just happened! I'm horrible," bawled Bulma. She screamed into a pillow. "Vegeta, why didn't you tell me she was here?" she demanded.

The Saiyan shrugged. "The brat must have been hiding her energy," he assumed and fell back onto the bed. It would've mortifying to have his offspring see him in such a vulnerable position beneath Bulma. He literally had his pants down. He had decided that he lost enough of his pride for one was nothing they could do about the past. It looked as if Tanga didn't even realize the situation.

Bulma suddenly cuddled up to Vegeta and began lightly kissing his chest. Warm sensations radiated through his torso – ranging from arousal to a sense of comfort. "I'm so happy you're alive," she whispered to herself, not knowing that he heard each word. The burgundy blanket hooded her head as she leaned into her lover's tense abdomen that somehow felt more comfortable the longer she stayed still.

He allowed the woman's embrace and warily loosened his muscles. To feel her soft, warm breath against him at that level somehow didn't provoke his primal instinct as much as he anticipated – rather, he felt content in that position. Sliding his arm beneath the blanket, he had the opportunity to grope any part of his lover's voluptuous body, but instead chose to stroke her silky strands of hair.

When Vegeta finally heard her heavy snores, he let out a groan. The sun had barely crossed half of the sky at that point, and the woman was already nearing a deep sleep. Of course he wasn't sleepy, he had recently woken up from the deepest sleep of all, but somehow, there wasn't enough evil in his heart at that point to disturb the sleeping beauty. And so he let his body sink into the annoyingly cozy bed that taunted his tough attitude into joining the woman for a nap.

The prince used his free arm to block the window's light, and rested it over his eyes. It wasn't as hard as he expected to fall asleep.

**hmfan24****: I hope you guys read the revision. It's really hard letting this story go, but you can bet I'll give the rewrite my all! I got lilpumpkingirl to beta it. It's funny how many people I've met writing this story. Bonus_Kun reviewed "Abducted!" which really helped and FireStorm1991 gave me a shout out and then I saw that lilDBZbuddy89 wrote almost the exact same plot (Saiyan Princess) as me and almost the exact same time. But they were first and theirs is longer.**

**Um, thank you for reading. The revision should be posted soon.  
**

**Also, tidbit about my life: I'm going to prom this weekend.  
**


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